Anti Shooting Star
by Zoram Selrof
Summary: Sequel to Time Space Crisis. Subaru and co. have barely begun their new school year when a squad of enemies grouped under the name "Anti Shooting Star" show up and start challenging Denpa Henkan users and solo Wizards alike one after the other. They operate from a remote planet and the Great Demon King is pulling the strings of them so as to grow stronger,,. Rated M for lemon.
1. Chapter 1: Crazy after-school

**Anti Shooting Star**

**By Zoram Selrof**

**Chapter 1: Crazy after-school**

17:21 PM (Japan Time), Tuesday September the 11th, 2206…

"… Mwah, hah, hah! Mwah, hah, hah! Nyah, hah, hah!"

"… So?"

"Tremble, world! Warus Rockus – samus has descended!"

"Not again!"

"Oi! War Rock! What's with that weird speech thing?"

"Not like ya'd get it, Fatman!"

"Wha~t?"

"Buruo~! Wanna brawl?"

"Probabilities of…"

"I know: 100%."

"Hmpf! Barbarians."

"Come on, Luna – chan…"

"Hmpf… How boring…"

"Tsukasa~! Hikaru went to date Misora~!"

"I'm SO annoyed, really."

"Gino Il Napolitano~! Falcone wants his _spaghetti _back!"

"Oh yeah?"

The Kodama Middle School 2-A students had come out of the school when they were "ambushed" by the Wizard War Rock and his silly humor and jokes.

"War Rock. Behave. Or else…"

"Or else I get my ears pulled, Subari~?"

"No."

Hoshikawa Subaru, aged 14, began to scold War Rock but he simply formed a wider grin.

"Oi! Stop with the nickname, War Rock!"

"Buruo~! Not like the jerk began it, Gonta!"

Ushijima Gonta was annoyed and Ox was about to explode given the twitch over his right eye.

"Hmpf! Barbarians! Flee these civilized lands!"

"Luna – chan…!"

Shirogane Luna played the offended to the exasperation of her Wizard, Mode.

"Kizamaro – kun. We should get to the shelter."

"If there's one."

Saishouin Kizamaro's Wizard, Pedia, hushed something to him and he rolled his eyes while sighing.

"Jackie~! Shidou will faint from looking at Queen Tia~!"

"No wonder."

Jack didn't look surprised at the taunting attempt and had his old hostile and unimpressed face on today.

"Tsukasa~! _Su casa_~!"

"By all the… My name isn't a pun on the Spanish "their home"!"

Futaba Tsukasa got annoyed by the lame idiomatic pun War Rock came up with on the spot.

"Gino Il Napolitano~! Falcone wants to crown you his heir, see~!"

"Don't mix me with the Italian Mafia tales! And my name is Kiboyama Gino, I'm Japanese, and not from Naples!"

Kiboyama Gino was a student who had bluish eyes and brownish hair: he seemed to be one or two inches taller than Tsukasa.

"So! The Roman Legionare's coming with the DCLXVI Legion!"

"The 666th Legion? War Rock! You moron!"

"And his name is Miles, as you know it!"

A Wizard materialized to Kiboyama's right.

His main body was more "humanoid" in shape and colored in a brownish color similar to sand: some patterns had been drawn over the body to form plates of armor.

His helmet had been painted sea blue and black shades hid his eyes yet it looked strong and resistant.

His arms were colored in a reddish color with white color stripes running up and down their length: the forearms had extra armor on them and his hands' "skin" was black.

He carried a round golden shield with a silver edge and center on his left hand which was large enough to protect half of his body.

Like a Roman Legionary, he wielded a large lance with a brown body and silver spear set atop it: the weapon looked easy to maneuver and powerful at the same time.

He also had a hover engine built onto the lower part of his body which allowed him to remain air-bone.

"The Storm is gonna _Storm_ the Dealer Hideout!"

"That pun's LAME! War Rock!" Someone complained from within Tsukasa's Hunter-VG.

"Warus Rockus – samus!"

"Stop with the Latin corruptions! You're laughing at ME!" Miles hissed.

Storm, Tsukasa's new Wizard, looked reminiscent of Gemini, the FM who'd picked him as a host over two years ago.

His main body was shaped like a spheroid and colored in a patch of green identical to Tsukasa's hair.

His head was round and perfectly shaped: a white-like helmet protected it and included a pair of purple-colored thick shades: his skin was normal-colored and his face looked young.

Two sharp needle-like tools emerged from his armored and purple-colored forearms and replaced his normal hands.

The rest of the arms were painted with the black and yellow striping to signal "danger" as if hinting at the usage of the appendixes.

Like most modern Wizards, he had a hover device built into the inferior part of his body instead of legs which had been colored in the same black and yellow stripes combination.

"Huff. We've barely begun 2nd year and you have to be tormenting us over and over again, War Rock?" Subaru sighed.

"Misora will "play" with Queen Tia – sama~!"

"That's not funny!" He scolded in a hushed tone of voice.

"At all." Jack grumbled.

"So! Ya will "play" with Queen Tia – sama~?"

"No." He drily replied.

"Stop bringing that up. What we went through in the summer during the Wizard City Tournament wasn't funny to begin with. We almost lost our sanity!" Kiboyama hissed.

"And you know what happened for me during the period summer 2204 – October 2205! Don't joke with that as if it was a trivial manner!" Tsukasa complained next.

"Buruo~! You messed it up! As always! This jackass!"

"Wha~t? Jackass? The great me~? This bull!" War Rock growled.

"This rascal!"

"Nya~h! Showdown!" War Rock challenged.

"The Cosmo Wave!" Ox settled the place.

"Fine! Moon Ace is the witness!"

"Moon _Disaster_, you moron!" He corrected.

"Nope! Moon Ace and Acid Disaster! Nyah, hah, hah!"

"Wait there, you!"

Both warped out and the group finally sighed in relief at having gotten rid of their behavior.

"Let's get home." Subaru tried to rally.

"Ah! Subaru – kun! Tell Rock Man – sama he'd better not try to play with my virgin heart!" Luna suddenly told him.

"Not like I had any intention. Do I like I'd do that, _iinchou_?"

"I dunno 'bout cha but Rock Man – sama is another person!"

"Huff. Alright, alright…!" He rolled his eyes.

"See you around. I'm off to the WAXA Japan Branch to check on neechan and make sure she's not attempted to strangle Akatsuki."

"Yeah. You'd better do that." Subaru sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Queen Tia – sensei is a complicated person." Kizamaro muttered.

"More like too cold." Luna muttered.

"Hmm… Ginger beef…"

"FATMAN! CAUGHT YA! CHA WON'T ESCAPE FROM EATING 75 CARROTS THIS WEEK, YOU FAT AND CALORIES ABOMINATION!"

"Kya~h! Spare me, _iinchou_~!"

17:33 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Ah. Welcome, Jack."

"So, Ryuusuke… Did they strangle each other?"

"Huff. They looked like they were about to do that but Dr. Yoiri and the Chief managed to relocate them to do other jobs."

"H-hi, Jack – kun…"

"Utagai… So? What's with that face?"

"T-there's an omen in my garbage bin!"

"Jeez. He means a broken pencil."

Jack made it to the entrance of the WAXA Japan Branch and spoke with one Satella Police Commando stationed there: Utagai Shinsuke came out while constantly shuddering and Cygnus, his Wizard, sighed.

"Yo! Jack. Hi there."

"Good afternoon."

Akatsuki Shidou came out while munching his usual "sweet candy" and accompanied by his Wizard Acid.

"Akatasuki… I heard the tale."

"Jeez. It's not as bad as it sounds! We simply were there, glaring at each other for about one minute!" He grumbled.

"When will you do something productive about it, Shidou?" Acid asked him with a sigh.

"Dunno, Claw Man." He shrugged.

"Let's not start with the nicknames again…!" He sighed.

"Akatsuki. Ill-mouthing me?"

"Jeez! Queen Tia! Drop that stalker behavior!"

"Oi, neechan… Aren't you over-doing it?"

Queen Tia came out behind Shidou while folding her arms and looking dry and unimpressed: Shidou looked about to go mad from the exasperation he'd been building up.

"Look! Queen Tia! I burnt up the stuff you'd hid in the air vents because I don't want you to scare Misora any further than you do! Get it?"

"Oh?" She simply lifted the right eyebrow.

"Don't "oh?"! You know what I mean!"

"Maybe I do."

"Now, now! Shidou – chan, Queen Tia… Let's be civilized!"

Dr. Yoiri came out as well and cleared her throat: Queen Tia merely shrugged her shoulders and headed back inside: Jack grumbled something under his breath and Shidou slapped his forehead.

"Someone save my sanity~!"

"By the way. Akatsuki… Hyde and his punk… What are they doing?"

"Hyde's gone to Vienna and is going to Opera Houses to see operas while the punk's been spotted in the Black Hole Server."

"Hum. So he aims to lift his level…"

"Sure thing…"

"Yikes." Utagai gulped.

"Be more courageous, Utagai!"

"T-that's easier said than done, Cygnus!"

"Huff. Well. I'm gonna go home. It's a miracle none of us have gone mad already by now."

"Totally." Shidou slapped his forehead.

"Absolutely."

"Man." Ryuuseke sighed.

17:44 PM (Japan Time)…

"… WHO THE HELL STOLE THE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM FROM THE FREEZER? SHOW YOUR HIDE, YOU VILLAINOUS ENTITIES!"

"… "Villainous entities"…? Urakata – san…!"

"Pororon! More saboteurs?"

"The curse of the saboteur, yeah, Harp…"

"They don't learn!"

"At all! They go by the _cliché_ and they forget who I am."

"Truly! We need to tag with Moon Disaster and punish them like we did with that geezer!"

"Oh yeah. Once we figure out who they are…"

Hibiki Misora rolled her eyes as she worked on the draft of a new lyric for a song in her Okudama Studios room: Urakata Mamorou had yelled and both she and Harp, her Wizard, sighed.

"Room service!" Someone knocked at the door.

"Did the canary eat the wolf?" Misora asked back.

"What? No way! Hah, hah, hah!" They laughed.

"Gotcha!"

"HUH?"

"THERE! YOU! I don't recognize you!" Urakata growled.

"R-room service… I mean… Cleansing staff!"

"You don't have the cleansing staff uniform! And what's with that Hunter – VG? Huh? And you don't know the password!"

"W-what password? Boss said that… YIKES!" The man began to mutter only to gasp.

"That's a CONFESSION! Security~!"

"Beep, beep! Resistance is futile! You're under arrest!"

"Let go of me!"

"Here! I'll be taking this gizmo! Huh? What! It has a built-in stun gun! You were planning on abducting her…? Or to do something… perverted?"

"What in the… So it's not a record studio but a pervert magazine?"

"Pororon! Humans sure are weird."

"You needn't tell me." She fumed.

"YO, YO, YO!"

"Moon Disaster? What the heck are you doing here?"

"I got told by Warus Rockus – samus to relay the results of his Battlus Agonicus with Oxus!"

"What's with those Latin corruptions…? He means "Agonic Battle" with Ox which I doubt it was. They surely tackled each other." Misora sighed.

"Pororon! Those two wanna start the AM-FM war once again."

"Where's Cepheus when you need him to put a halt to them? Or, better, where's Dr. Lartes? They could lock the guy in the Subspace's server and give Subaru the solo Denpa – Henkan ability."

"Speaking of which… Those three haven't shown up around here ever since that weird August day with that "Clock Genius" fellow…"

"Yeah. I know. But that's fine, anyway. Omega's puns combined with War Rock's are a living _Naraku_."

"What's a _Naraku_?"

"Look it up on the data banks."

"Pororon. Guess you mean something painful."

"Totally painful."

"Alright, alright! Huh? Say! I got an idea! Listen, you! Hush… Hush…"

"YO, YO, YO! OK! Leave it up to me!"

"Misora? It's me. Can I come in?"

"Sure, Urakata – san."

Urakata came in after Misora unlocked the door and he sighed in relief: he looked amused.

"I told Moon Disaster to corner the chief of that magazine and torment him a bit with his 5 hour – long _extravaganza_."

"Bravo. That's what we need. Teach them that they're messing with my dignity… And that I have zero tolerance."

"Mwah, hah, hah! Misora~! Subari~ is dating Jackie~?"

"Oh yeah? I'm SO annoyed, cha know, War Rock."

War Rock popped out there and laughed as he exhibited a Polaroid showing Subaru and Jack looking at each other and grinning while clasping their hands: Misora yanked it and calmly broke it into pieces without beating an eyelash, even.

"The punk is gonna beat your Black Hole Server record."

"What! Like I'll let 'em! I'll go slash and dice all Viruses there myself and bring one to his stinking turf! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Huff. This guy…" Urakata sighed.

"Is maddening, yes." Harp sentenced.

"This town is the craziest in the world!" He exasperatedly groaned.

"Of course."

"Pororon!"

"Huff! Let's see if we can continue our work already!"

"Let's hope it, yes. I better continue working on the lyrics."

"Pororon!"

18:22 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Mwah, hah, hah, hah… Subari~!"

"What now? I'm working on my homework."

"Work-home is going to home-work the non-home and the non-work!"

"How devious of you."

"Mwah, hah, hah! I pulled the guy's horns!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Mwah, hah, hah! I invited someone no-one!"

"I see."

War Rock returned to the Hoshikawa house to start picking on Subaru as he worked on his homework but he wasn't impressed.

"So? Is there gonna be more "triangle"?"

"You'll have to struggle to beat Miles and Storm at the VR Simulator."

"But of course, Subari~!"

His Hunter-VG rang and Subaru picked it up: Solo showed up on-screen and looked pretty much pissed off.

"The guy messed it up?" Subaru guessed.

"Yeah. They stole the data of a discovery I made on the Mu ruins."

"War Rock. Return that. Or else I'll call Master."

"Master of Mastering Masters?"

"And lock you on the server AGAIN."

"Mwah, hah, hah! I'm invincible~! I'll get outta there in a breeze!"

"I'll replace you for a solo Denpa – Henkan system like Blood." He warned next.

"Bloody Shadowy~!"

"The fool…!" Solo got a twitch over his right eye.

"Ra?" Laplace wondered in the background.

"Shut the hell up." He icily hissed.

"Yu!" He gasped.

"Mwah, hah, hah. The data says he found a horny guy there~…"

"In the middle of a ruin in Thailand? Sure, sure."

"And he wants to have a triangle with ya and that punk…"

"Punk! Me! That coward's pawn is the punk!" He growled.

"Hand over the data, War Rock."

"And if I don't want to~?"

"Hello? Master?"

"Subaru. Trouble with War Rock?"

"In essence, sir."

Subaru began a voice-only call with someone: the screen displayed the name "Dr. Lartes" on it.

"Yikes! N-no, Doc! Ox's to blame~!" He gulped.

"War Rock. You think that, after these 2 years, I wouldn't know how to tell apart when you're lying or not?" The man sighed.

"He stole data from Solo."

"Use the app I programmed."

"Roger."

"What "app"?" War Rock gasped.

"Data retrieval. Download the most recently copied data." Subaru dully announced as he stood up to face him and aim the device at him.

"What? Ugru~h!"

War Rock's body glowed and a spheroid containing a 3D image of a page of text popped out to then warp elsewhere: Solo looked at the lower edge of the screen as his Hunter-VG beeped.

"Good. I owe you one, Hoshikawa."

"Don't mind it."

"Fine. Maybe you could give me a copy of that? It'd do wonders to deal with this moron behind me." He glanced at Laplace.

"Yu!"

"That was unfair, Subari~!"

"It was fair. You bring more trouble than Omega – san."

"Yeah. You steal things and begin to toss them there and there."

"Alright. I'm off to continuing my research… See you around."

"See you."

Solo ended the call and Subaru directed an annoyed glare at War Rock that seemed to put down his cocky mood.

"Lesson learnt? Or do we need to be bolder than this?"

"A-alright! I'll behave, yeah!"

"About time!" Dr. Lartes fumed.

"I'm sorry to have bothered you, Master."

"Don't mind it. Not like I was doing anything critical, anyway… Gino and Tsukasa got here without incidents…"

"By the way… Are Blood and the others in an overseas mission?"

"Correct. They're investigating sightings of some sect or another which seemingly holds chemical weapons. They're worrisome so sending them is a good idea because those don't seemingly have Wizards."

"Good. Let's hope it doesn't end up in trouble."

"Nah. I don't think so."

"Trouble is forthcoming." A distorted voice suddenly burst into the communication.

"Who goes there?"

"Anti Shooting Star."

"Anti Shooting Star? What's this, a prank?"

"No. The day after tomorrow… Misfortune will happen…"

"I know it'll be Thursday the 13th but the bad luck day is Friday the 13th, Mr. Universe." Subaru calmly replied.

"You will soon submit to despair and grudge."

"Don't tell us." Dr. Lartes muttered.

"Such is the will of the _daimaou_."

"The _daimou_ died time ago."

"The _new_ one."

"Ah. So Hyde's crowned himself _daimaou_ this time around. And you're Shinobi, anyway. If this is you guys' idea of a drama then it sucks because you've been found out before it even began."

"Hmpf."

There was a sound like a burst of static and Subaru fumed.

"Will they leave me alone once and for all?"

"Good question." Dr. Lartes fumed as well.

"See you around, Master."

"OK. Take care."

"Oi, Subaru… Are you sure that was a prank?"

"Of course it was. It was a poor attempt at scaring me."

"By Hyde and the punk…?"

"Who else? King is wandering the world and is under monitoring, Kuroban Howsad and Hikaru travelled to "another world" and Hyde and the punk are the ones who have been plotting up schemes ever since 9 months ago, anyway." He listed.

"Well… Yeah. That's true."

"And those two we encountered again during the Wizard City Tournament most likely were deleted in the explosion."

"True, true… W-well, guess I'm gonna go chat with Daigo… See ya."

"Fine. But don't pick on the others."

War Rock warped outta the room and Subaru sighed in relief as he stretched and resumed working on the home-work while listening to some music he played from his Hunter-VG: he failed to spot a small spheroid which was hovering in the NE corner of the room's ceiling and looking towards him: it vanished without making any noise.

"Huh? Huh… I had the feeling I'd heard some sound… Guess it was my imagination." He muttered while looking around.

"Beep-beep-beep… The Beep Show is going to Beep Thou!" A Denpa – kun chanted outside of the house.

"It's another of those publicity-use Denpa – kun which are made to patrol the Wave Roads and chant aloud… Jeez. Play that on TV. Or advertise that on some website, too."

"Peeb-peeb-peeb… The Peeb Show is going to Peeb Thou!"

"I smell Moon Disaster's involvement in that one."

"Epeb-epeb-epeb… The Epeb Show is going to Epeb Thou!"

"Jeez. Moon Disaster. You're a _disaster_ at these. Hence your name!"

"Ebep-ebep-ebep… The Ebep Show is going to Ebep Thou!"

_Please… Leave me alone already! Kodama Town… Madness Town…!_


	2. Chapter 2: ASS

**Chapter 2: ASS**

17:37 PM (Japan Time), Thursday September the 13th…

"… I'm going to be the Boxing Champion of Kodama Middle!"

"Oh yeah? Heavy weight boxing, Fatman?"

"Wha~h! _Iinchou_! Please stop looking at me like I'm guilty of something!"

"Of accumulating fats and calories…!"

"YIKES!"

"There we go again: the endless loop!"

"It sure is an endless loop."

"Huff."

Gonta began boasting while they walked out of the institute, Luna directed a dull glare at him, he pleaded and she got annoyed: Subaru groaned out of exasperation, Kizamaro sighed and the other three students fumed.

"Subari~! Your _fiancée _wants ya to come to the church!" War Rock laughed from inside of the Hunter-VG.

"How original of you." He drily told him.

"This barbarian…!" Luna got further annoyed.

"Luna – chan! Calm down! Or else the reputation…!"

"Huh! True! Fatman! I don't want you to wreck my reputation, get it?"

"YIKES! Y-yeah, _iinchou_, but…"

"No buts! Get it?"

"Y-yeah… Gotcha…"

"Subari~! Your girlfriend wants to meet ya in the Noise Wave close to Kodama Elementary~… To show ya what Queen Tia's up to using a spy camera~… Hah, hah, hah!"

"I'm going to call for Master."

"Master of Mastering Masters?"

"Go beat all Viruses on a Noise Wave."

"Buruo~! You won't get past the 22nd!" Ox challenged.

"Wha~t? This jerk! I'll show it to ya!"

The Hunter-VG beeped and Subaru checked it.

"Mail from Misora – chan and this time it's genuine… "I need a hand with some Wizards in the Noise Wave near Kodama Elementary."… Rather rushed but no wonder… Well. I'll leave the backpack home and head there soon enough…" He muttered.

"Tell that competency not to get in MY way!"

"Jeez. _Iinchou_! Let's drop it already."

"Hmpf!"

"Be careful, Tsukasa~ and Gino Il Napolitano~! Misora's gonna break apart the triangle~!" He hushed to them.

"I'm SO scared." Tsukasa drily replied.

"Yeah. We're SO scared, really." Kiboyama grumbled.

"Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Hmpf. Worthless." Jack fumed.

The group split and Subaru unlocked his house: he stepped into the bedroom and left the backpack there.

"Well. It's time to go meet Misora – chan. I better help her out dealing with those Wizards."

"And to collect kisses!"

"How lame."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Denpa – Henkan! Hoshikawa Subaru, On Air!"

"Yessir!"

Subaru became Shooting Star Rock Man and quickly walked out of the house and headed for the Noise Wave entrance: he got inside and began to walk around it: he reached the deepest spot but found nothing save for a silver circle in the ground with the word "ANTI" written there using blood red Alphabet letters.

"What. Is this some prank by Shinobi or what?"

"Anti Buster!"

"Uack!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! You lowered the guard, you fool!"

"Who the hell…?"

Someone shot a spheroid of energy which hit his back from behind all of a sudden and Rock Man turned around to try to find his attacker.

"Show yer hide!" War Rock taunted.

"Show your fangs, speaking freak."

"Wha~t? I'll bite ya yet!"

"I'm SO scared. You gotta have the rabies."

"T-this JERK!"

"Cool it down, Rock! Show your hide!"

"Hah!"

"What…?"

Rock Man was taken aback as a totally black silhouette appeared in front of him but it began to brighten until it turned into a gray color.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"What in the…?"

"Anti Rock Man!"

"Anti Rock Man…?"

"One of the 13 Anti Shooting Star!"

"Then you're the caller from yesterday!"

"Indeed!"

A copy of his Rock Man formed colored gray on its whole (even the exposed skin and the shades and the hair) stepped forward while aiming a copy of the Rock Buster colored in a grayish color.

"13 Anti Shooting Star…? Who are you guys?"

"You lowlifes' contrary!"

"This guy ain't that Kurayami jerk… It's more like Apollon Flame…"

"You mean that he's a Denpa Body using a Mu Erand Soldier as proxy host to perform "Denpa-Henkan", right? What we witnessed when we went into the Mu Continent to put a halt to Dr. Orihime…"

"Yeah… That's what I meant…" War Rock hushed.

"Are you lowlifes listening? I'm here to annihilate you lowlifes!"

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you trying. Mr. Gray." Rock Man drily taunted.

"Anti Long Sword!"

"Long Sword!"

His opponent formed a gray-colored Long Sword and Rock Man formed a normal one as they slashed each other but neither minded the superficial cut: Rock Man then drew a Mad Vulcan X but his opponent did the same and they bombarded each other.

"Where's the fun on this, anyway? This guy is but a mirror."

"Dunno. Maybe he's got some special technique. But I doubt any imitator being able to copy my "Finalize" form… Kurayami couldn't and he directly stole our Denpa-Henkan data…" He muttered.

"That's all? This is the so-called "hero"? How lame."

"That's because I haven't built up enough Noise yet to go into Burai Noise, anyway."

"Hmpf! Galaxy Advance! Flash Spear 1, 2, 3! Spade Magnets GA!"

"Holy Panel, Super Barrier!"

"Fuck."

Spade Magnets formed on the field and attacked twice with his blue and red swords but they were repelled by the Super Barrier thanks to the Holy Panel reducing the output.

"Che. Panel Format! Thousand Kick!"

"Anti" Rock Man jumped forward and began to deliver several kicks to the Super Barrier until it shattered and some of the kicks hit Rock Man but he didn't mind them.

"All Poison! Poison Storm!"

"Heck. 15 panels of Poison!"

"Yeah! And this will inflict 600 HP of damage! Hah, hah, hah!"

Rock Man got hit by the Poison Storm's consecutive shots and he grumbled something: he then grinned.

"Muramasa Blade!"

"Fuck."

"Hrah!"

"Ugh!"

He hit the imitator with the Muramasa Blade and opened a wound on their body: the imitator growled and stepped back.

"Dancing Blade X!"

"Vulcan Seed X!"

Both hit each other with their attacks but Rock Man became Burai Noise and drew the Laplace Blade.

"Eat this! Laplace Blade!"

"Shit! Ugh!"

Rock Man swung the Laplace Blade in a wide swing and hit the opponent: he stepped back and growled.

"How's that for a change, ugly?" War Rock taunted.

"Damn it!"

"Who is that "daimaou"?"

"The reborn _daimaou_!"

"Reborn? Then… That Twilight bastard… They're alive?" He gasped.

"Yeah… They had prepared a spare body: and since they're a Wizard then they could move there with ease!"

"Shit! And for the sake of that coward those four were sacrificed in such a cruel manner? Where is the lowlife? I'll destroy them myself!"

"Heh, heh, heh… Not yet… Not until you manage to beat all of us Anti Shooting Star!" "Anti" Rock Man taunted.

"Let them come! I'll beat them!"

"Hah! The point is that each of the targets list will face their own "Anti"!"

"Twilight…!" He hissed.

"But, Subaru… Remember how, out of those four, two were…"

"Copies, I know! But nevertheless…! They didn't deserve that cruel end!"

"Heh, heh, heh. I'll leave at here for today… But the next target must be facing their own "Anti" by now… Maybe you'll make it in time to save them from the fate IQ – sama has in store for them… Hah, hah, hah!"

"Shit! Misora – chan! I gotta hurry to Okudama Studios!"

18:08 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Subaru – kun? Are you here? Didn't you need help with some Noised Wizards? Hullo~?"

"Good stuff, woman…"

"Who…? What?"

"What's that?"

"No "what" but "whom"… "Anti" Harp Note!"

"Anti?"

Harp Note had come into a Noise Wave, too, and then a voice rang out: she gasped and turned around to find her own "Anti" (also colored gray) standing there.

"Yeah! The Anti Shooting Star! The 13 of us!"

"And you picked this day because it's the 13th? What happened to Subaru – kun, you pale imitator?"

"Pale? Hah! We'll soon see who's pale. And for that man… Their own "Anti" is fighting them by now… Heh, heh, heh."

"So you want a fight! Fine! Galaxy Advance! Ice Spinning 1, 2, 3! Dia Iceburn GA!"

Dia Iceburn formed on the field and drew the hammer to hit the opponent who was seemingly caught with the guard down.

"Heh, heh, heh. You will soon fear my arts."

"Arts? What arts? Hey! Wait a minute, cha!"

"Yeah… What you fear the most, woman…"

"Stop with the "woman"! I'm not even 15 yet! I'm a _girl_!"

"Hah! Mere word-play."

"It's obvious you think you're superior to me. We'll soon see 'bout it."

"Bring it on, _flattened_ woman!"

"Jeez! That joke isn't half-funny!"

"IQ – sama will turn you into flesh to be used!"

"But "IQ" was caught about two years ago!" She argued.

"The _daimaou_ will soon free Her Grace! And now… Heel Wizard X!"

A Heel Wizard formed and drew an electrical whip which he swung and coiled around Harp Note's right leg: an electrical current electrocuted her and she clenched her teeth.

"Che! Noised Wizard X!"

The Noised Wizard swung with the sword and hit "Anti" Harp Note but she merely formed a smug grin.

"Hah! Let it come! You need to "grow" something!"

"They'll grow in due time! Now go tuna in Norway!"

"Tee, heh, heh. Yeah… I'll tell you! The true nature of Queen Tia!"

"I've already deduced it!"

"Pororon! Less talk and more fight!" Harp taunted her.

"Not like you'd understand it, alien."

"Pororon! Guess not." She didn't care.

"_Dominatrix! Femdom! Yuri!_ That's what Queen Tia is! The "Ice Princess", even! One day we shall allow her to train flesh like you in the "Palace"!"

"That "Palace" thing is over 90% dismantled by now."

"We'll build a new one on the new world we live at!"

"So you're operating from another planet."

"Did you know something about that man?"

"Don't call Subaru – kun a "man" either: he's a "boy"!"

"Mere rhetoric!" She laughed.

"It's not rhetoric. It's common sense. Which you seem to lack."

"What! Me? How dare cha, cha flattened woman!"

"Stop with the "flattened"! It makes me feel ashamed!"

"Tee, heh, heh, heh! So you'd like to have them bigger!"

"SHUT UP!" She snapped.

"Misora… I don't think it's a good moment to get annoyed…"

"Che. This gal!"

"That's more like a woman."

"What do you mean, that I sounded like a tom-boy? Guess that!"

"Death Scythe X!"

"Anti" Harp Note formed the scythe weapon and shot it at Harp Note: it hit her 3 times in a row and then the "Anti" warped in front of her and suddenly began to choke her: Harp Note coughed.

"B-Beast Swing X!"

"Guro~h!"

A copy of War Rock formed and he swung the claws to hit "Anti" Harp Note so she let go while growling something: Harp Note coughed as she tried to recover her breath.

"Heavy Down X!"

"What? Uwah!"

The gigantic statue fell atop her and then got deleted but not without causing some damage to "Anti" Harp Note before that: she grumbled something and stood up again.

"This gal…!"

"Join the club." The real Harp Note taunted.

"Wha~t? Damn you~!"

"Now, who's the one sounding like a man?" She taunted next.

"Che! Slip of the tongue… Hammer Weapon X!"

"Galaxy Advance! Powder Shot 1! 2! 3! Club Strong GA!"

Club Strong formed on the field and began to hit it with his gigantic club: "Anti" Harp Note groaned and then drew a Muramasa Blade.

"You're MINE!"

"I wonder about that. Jet Attack X!"

Harp Note dashed forward thanks to the Virus and hit "Anti" Harp Note: she picked her Muramasa Blade and swung it to attack her: "Anti" Harp Note groaned and stepped back.

"Shit. I underestimated this flattened woman."

"Jeez! My name's Harp Note! And you know that!"

"You're but flesh! To be used and ruled! Hah!"

"Go have your head checked." Harp Note taunted next with some annoyance to her face and voice.

"So? Did the glass of flowers get shattered already~?"

"None of your murky business, imitator!" She grumbled.

"Guess not, then. I'll be the one to claim it. Tee, heh, heh. It'll be lovely to see your face of dread and hear to your moans of mercy!"

"You're a damned sadist!" She cursed.

"Tee, heh, heh. _No pain_, _no gain_! _See you around, _flattened – chan!"

She giggled and warped out of the Noise Wave while Harp Note looked so pissed off that she could blow up something to vent off her anger.

"T-that IMITATOR! How does she dare! I'll show her yet!"

"Pororon! Trouble."

18:29 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hi there, Blood."

"Ah. Subaru – kun, Misora – chan… What's up?"

"Is Dr. Lartes onboard?"

"Yeah. On his lab…"

"Good. We'll tell you later, but trouble's popped out."

"Lovely. "Nebula Grey" must've been busy."

"No doubt."

Rock Man and Harp Note had stepped out into a curved metallic corridor somewhere which had some arches every a few tens of meters, fluorescent lights on the ceiling and armored doors with labels on both sides of it: they met someone there.

The guy named "Blood" used red as his main body color.

He sported black shades and a flock of messy reddish hair came out from behind the helmet given how it only covered the face and the front of the head: his ear-pads had two purple "V" letters drawn inside of them.

His armor had the purple letters "BS" engraved on the chest area while his legs were colored black and had two red stripes running down the legs' sides in a parallel manner.

His right forearm was covered by a device colored red coupled with a piece of it which was colored transparent red: a small indentation near the wrist had the same "BS" initials engraved there: and, where the hand would be, a large double-barreled shotgun emerged instead.

He looked very similar to Rock Man.

"Alright. The lab's over there… Here!"

"Hello? Dr. Lartes?"

"Come in."

Both stepped into the room: it had a wooden desk built into the north wall, a rotating armchair and two capsule-like objects connected to a deposit on the eastern wall: the southern wall had a door marking the entry and exit of the room.

There also was a black examination table (like the ones in a medic's office) set left of the door.

"Trouble, sir."

"With capital T."

"What? Hyde and the punk?"

"Worse!"

"100 times worse!"

"Alright. Calm down and make a summary."

Dr. Lartes turned the revolving chair to face them after he'd been working with a pair of "Real Wave" screens.

He was a man on his mid-20s and about a meter and eighty tall more or less.

He had black slightly messy hair plus brownish irises' eyes.

He wore a medic's coat with the ID "Dr. Kazimura Lartes" written on it and sported brown pants plus shoes: he had a pair of reading glasses on, too, which he adjusted.

"Alright. Twilight. He's alive."

"WHAT?"

"The jerk fooled us and had a spare body ready."

"Shit."

"And he's set up a brigade of "Anti" opponents… "Anti" Rock Man, "Anti" Harp Note… They're pretty much arrogant."

"How many of those are there?"

"13."

"13! But if they go for Denpa – Henkan users, then… "Anti" Ox Fire, "Anti" Acid Ace, "Anti" Burai, "Anti" Cygnus Wing", "Anti" Wolf Forest… Maybe "Anti" Phantom Black and "Anti" Assassin Shinobi, even… But we fall short by 4… Unless the jerk decides to include Blood Shadow, Sigma and Omega too which would make 13… And maybe "Anti" Vadous…? Nah… The jerk himself is the "Anti" Vadous… But he could be the 13th in the sense that he's the King of them…" He tried to list.

"We'll have to wait and see." Rock Man sighed.

"Che. The jerk wasn't a joke."

"Mine was a sadist, even. Twilight's planning to rescue "IQ"."

"Shit. We gotta increase the watch."

"They let out about operating for another planet, too."

"Lovely. I smell "Nebula Grey" being involved at some point." He sighed.

"Should we tell the others?" Rock Man asked.

"Hmm… Well… Maybe Ox Fire and Cygnus Wing since they're not that "courageous" in battle… No offense, but… Ox Fire gets easily distracted and Cygnus Wing would rather thin it's some kind of omen."

"Mugro~h…" A growl rang out close by.

"T-that wasn't me." War Rock gasped.

"Pororon! It's coming from Subaru's Hunter-VG!"

"Nebula Grey?"

"No! Daimaou Twilight!"

"Twilight! You bastard!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! This hatred and grudge… Its incarnations shall continue to wriggle and wander along with you lowlifes in a blood-stained "Dark Sea" forever!" The voice proclaimed.

"Don't tell us!"

"My hatred… The curse of the Demon Tribe… They shall on reincarnating and forming until the end of Time Eternal!"

"If time's eternal then… How can you say "the end of Time Eternal"?"

"It's an expression to mean forever! Hah! You brats!"

"You bastard…! I'll avenge Umbra and the others!"

"Hah! Then come! Let you lowlife's hatred increase my power tenfold!"

"Don't fall for that trap, Subaru!" Dr. Lartes hushed.

"Grrr… My blood's boiling! You bully!"

"Bully! Me! You damned alien!" He got annoyed.

"Hah! Eye for an eye! And fang for a fang!"

"Wha~t? I'll have you lowlife swallow those words yet, by IQ – sama!"

"What a foolish man… You're but a puppet of "Nebula Grey"…"

"What? "Nebula Grey" is MY creation! It obeys me!"

"It's not yours. An evil scientist gave it form but it's really a "grudge soul" which can transcend Time-Space. It's nothing magical: it's just that he programmed it all too well and it developed AI of its own." Dr. Lartes corrected.

"Shit! I'll teach you yet! But my number one priority is that damned mouse… _Kyoudai_! I'll bury that traitor yet!"

"He'll bury you instead, you bully. Settle it with Boss like a man."

"Hah! I'm no "man"! I'm a Demon! The Great Demon King!" He proclaimed next.

"Sure, sure. And I'm Dr. Frankestein XXXI."

"Wha~t? This damned mad scientist wannabe~!"

"Mad scientist yourself. Go codfish."

"Che!"

The call ended in an abrupt manner and Rock Man fumed.

"I need a new encryption protocol."

"We sure need it. All of us." Harp Note sighed.

"Mwah, hah, hah. So, Subari~… Chance?"

"No. Not today. Maybe in the weekend. But at this rate Storm and Miles are going to dethrone you in the VR simulator."

"Wha~t? The Legionary and the Storming are gonna beat the great me, ya say~? I won't make it easy for 'em! My blood's boiling!"

"You stole that from Wolf. He's gonna sue you."

"I guess that. If he knows what "to sue" means, that is…" Dr. Lartes muttered with a hint of sarcasm.

"Pororon! I guess he doesn't. But Ice said he was gonna sue some magazine for publishing a fake story about Suzuka having a romance with some teen film star…" Harp muttered.

"Oh yeah. I heard of that… Faron Kunio – kun, was it?"

"Yeah. He's about our age and he came over once for an interview about two weeks ago. That's when some idiot thought of doing that just because they exchanged a "hi" in the corridor for a second. They manipulate the photo to make it look like Suzuka was fascinated by him." Harp Note detailed with obvious annoyance.

"Huff. Society won't change in that aspect." Dr. Lartes sighed.

"Well. Let's go back home. We can expect further trouble soon."

"Mwah, hah, hah. I'm gonna invent the Anti-Trouble Hammer!"

"Pororon! Cha stay quiet."

"Huff!"

"Damned Twilight… You want war? We'll give it to you and "IQ"!"


	3. Chapter 3: Double Trouble

**Chapter 3: Double Trouble**

11:11 AM (Japan Time), Saturday September the 15th…

"… Eat this, you Viruses! Lance and Shield!"

"Thunder and Volt!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! Beast Swing!"

"Not enough? Zetsumetsu Meteor!"

"Thunder of Earth!"

"Hah! Giant Axe!"

Miles, Storm and War Rock were "flying" across a metallic corridor in a facility somewhere filled with V3 Viruses which were being beaten by them using a combination of Battle Cards: they could spot a group of 12 Heel Wizards further in using their whips to command the Viruses.

"Go, you Viruses!"

"Not so fast! Mad Vulcan X!"

"Ugra~h!"

"Silver Meteor!" War Rock grinned.

"Plasma Gun X!" Storm announced.

The attacks eliminated 10 of the Heel Wizards and the Viruses turned on the other two: the three Wizards kept on advancing and found a group of 12 Noised Wizards as well.

"Gurugra~h!" They roared.

"Heh! Heavy Down X! Outta the way! You cheap guys!"

"Big Grenade!"

"Elec Slash!"

"What's this scandal? Intruders! You useless pawns! You lowlifes can't do anything yourselves? FINE! I'll do it myself!"

"Well, well, well. The big bro came out." War Rock chuckled.

"Jeez. That joke's running old." Miles complained.

"Totally." Storm sighed.

"Solid and Liquid say ya suck!"

"That isn't funny either!" Storm grumbled.

"Shut up." Miles snapped.

"Finalize! Grave Joker! Giant Building!"

A simulated Grave Joker was the opponent commanding this facility and he hit the floor with the right fist to form those "Giant Buildings" and then start warping: he got close to Miles and got ready to swing his fist but Miles formed a Drill Arm X and hit him thus stunning him and scoring a Counter Hit: he drew a Giant Axe next.

"My turn! Flash Spear X!"

"Hah! Shuri Shuriken X!"

"Ugro~h! Not enough…! G Meteor…!"

"Break Saber X!"

"Mummy Hand X!"

"Kogarashi X!"

"Gruah! Grah…! D-damned PESTS!"

"That's a true guy!" War Rock laughed at his joke.

"Sure, sure." Miles and Storm skeptically muttered.

"Let's go~! Piranha Kiss X! Eat kisses from your non-fans!"

"Non-fans, how original…" Miles sighed.

"Totally."

"What was that?" War Rock grumbled.

"Nothing." They dully replied.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Eat this! Beast Swing X!"

"Zetsumetsu Meteor!"

"Mad Vulcan X!"

"N-not enough…!"

"I like 'em die-hard: else there's no fun in the funny fun!"

"What a silly pun." Miles fumed.

"Hadn't that become clear ever since April, when we met?"

"I know."

"Eat fists! Eat these! Eat kicks!"

"Grah! Hah! I like this thrill!"

Grave Joker had recovered and now was fighting War Rock who didn't seem to mind his melee attacks too much.

"Eat Grave Missiles!"

He began to shoot down a row of missiles but War Rock began to bust them while quickly changing rows.

"Heavy Down X!"

"Uack!"

"Chance! Sword Fighter X!"

"Spade Magnets X!"

"Gurua~rgh!"

Grave Joker exploded and the three of them sighed in relief: the environment then began to fade and they got warped out of it and into another room which had a matrix of green lines and black squares filling all of its walls, the ground and the ceiling: these faded as well and normal lighting came on.

"Heh, heh, heh. Gotcha!" War Rock chuckled.

"Well. It was refreshing." Miles shrugged.

"Guess it was." Storm muttered.

There was a pair of simultaneous beeps.

"Mail from Ox… He wants me to lend him a hand in the Dentist Cybernetics, in Spica Mall… He's run into some trouble…"

"Mail from Cygnus… He wants me to lend him a hand in the Dummy Car Cybernetics, in Okudama Studios… He's run into some trouble…"

"They look too alike." War Rock seemed to suspect something.

"It's bait, then? From who?" Miles asked.

"Guess you guys' "Anti" jerks…"

"And here we thought they'd go for the "Denpa – Henkan" users."

"Maybe they wanted us to give us that impression and in truth they want to target Wizards close to you, War Rock…" Storm suggested.

"Huh. If Mode and Pedia get in the list then I wonder how they'll be able to handle those… Guess we'll need to send them a manual on Wave Battles…" War Rock muttered.

"Well. It's a challenge and I never back from one, so…"

"Do we tell Tsukasa and the others?"

"No need to worry them. We're equipped so that we can use Folders on our own, anyway." Miles argued back.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah… I heard it all!" A voice rang out.

"Heh! The manly cousin's here!"

"What "manly cousin"? That's Sigma."

"Show your hide."

"Delighted! By Sigma! Mwah, hah, hah."

A Wizard turned off their stealth camouflage and stepped forward from the SE corner.

Sigma was about two meters tall and was colored jet black: a red spheroid could be seen set on his chest area and it seemed to be missing the armor over its mass.

His face had two red eyes and one shone brighter than the other: two horns, one of which was almost erased, were set on both sides of his head and added a "demonic" look to him.

Green data flows moved around his body and he held a massive black and green sword in his right hand which he was currently aiming at the floor in lazy manner.

"Go, busters of busting buster!" He made up some silly rhyme.

"Let's go or they'll drive us mad."

"Yeah. See you later."

Both Wizards warped out while War Rock patted Sigma's right shoulder from behind while grinning.

"Sigma! Ya have been outta the town for too long! We need to bring a living Hell to some magazine jerk!"

"I heard the tale from the Doc, yeah… Let's go pick Moon Ace and let's sing a terrific distorted and haunting song! "On Despair's Throes"!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! Despair's Throes! Sure thing, man!"

"And then there were no jerks!"

"Truly!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah… Let's go, Rocky~!"

"Sure, Amgis!"

"The Despair Duo moves out!"

"Tremble, magazine idiots!"

11:51 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Alright, my imitator! I guess you must be "Anti" Centurion!"

"Hah! Good joke… You foolish Roman legionary!"

"Look who talks!"

"What?"

"You're uglier than Mr. Ugly!"

"Wha~t?"

Miles came to the Dentist Cybernetics and found his imitator waiting in a spot of it which happened to be the one Cygnus Wing R had been at some time ago: Miles began to taunt "Anti" Miles.

"Killing Lance and Killing Shield!"

"Mere corruptions of my tactics…"

"Anti" Miles formed a lance glowing with a purple glow and a square Roman-like shield with a glowing purple edge as well: he thrust for the real Miles who simply formed his own shield and blocked the thrust to then stick out his lance and get the imposter to stuck his there: Miles then silently formed a Heavy Down X which fell down on the enemy and crushed him: he groaned.

"That wasn't nice!"

"A battle isn't supposed to be nice. And even less with a servant of "Evil"…" Miles drily replied.

"Now you wanna play the super-hero, huh!"

"Wrong. I am a defender of "justice". That's all." Miles shrugged his shoulders.

"Hah! Word-play!"

"Who knows, Mr. Mouthy?"

"T-this JERK!"

"Giza Wheel X!"

"Poison Knuckle!"

"Beast Swing X!"

"Uack!"

Miles shot the Giza Wheel and it bounced off the enemy's shield while leaving a dent there: the "Anti" Miles drew a Poison Knuckle but War-Rock's swing hit them.

"You're a mere Wizard. Unlike the other two… So if there's one for the solo Wizards too… Then… Wolf Forest is not in the list?"

"Heck if I know! DIE~!"

"Not so fast, Mr. Smith. Galaxy Advance! Edogiri Blade 1! 2! 3! Grave Joker GA!"

Grave Joker formed on the field and made the Giant Buildings rain down in a random formation in three spots: one did get to hit "Anti" Miles and he growled.

"Shit. I forget about this GA stuff. If only "Anti" Rock Man weren't so smug…!"

"Blame your precious daimaou: he wanted to have each other compete to get the glory." Miles taunted.

"Shaddup! Don't laugh at Immortal Twilight – sama!"

"The guy's not immortal. Just a sneaky lowlife."

"Wha~t? Damn you! Snow Ball X!"

"Useless. Shark Cutter X!"

The Shark Cutter travelled across the field and hit "Anti" Miles as Miles calmly dodged the slowly rolling Snow Ball.

"Combo time! Bubble Hook X, Stun Knuckle!"

"Shit!"

Miles hit "Anti" Miles and trapped him inside of a bubble while delivering a hit with his right fist which inflicted double damage given how "Anti" Miles was trapped within the bubble: he was paralyzed as well.

"C-can't move…! Fuck!"

"Bo-Bo-Bon Bomb X!"

A bomb formed in the field and detonated: "Anti" Miles recovered and drew a Muramasa Blade.

"EAT THIS!"

"Radar Missile!"

The Radar Missile zeroed on "Anti" Miles and impacted him thus stopping his incoming attack: Miles moved behind a "Giant Building" in the SE corner of the Field to use as shield as "Anti" Miles formed a "Mu Technology X" and began to shoot attacks at it: Miles got out of there and calmly jumped forward to deliver 6 hits with his Sword Fighter X he'd silently drawn.

"Shit! Hammer Weapon X!"

The shockwave from the attack did hit Miles but he paid no heed to it: "Anti" Miles then formed a flamethrower.

"Machine Flame X! Daba Flame X!"

Both attacks were quickly chained and hit Miles but he kept on ignoring those.

"Hah! Your HP numbers are lower than mine by now!"

"A battle isn't settled through numbers. It's settled when the opponent lacks the strength to fight anymore. People keep on forgetting that nowadays." Miles scolded.

"Wha~t? This wise-man wannabe~!" He growled.

"Synchro Hook X!"

"Shit!"

The Synchro Hook X made their HP values synchronize and Miles then drew his lance which he used to hit the right side of the torso of "Anti" Miles: he growled.

"It's not over yet, you!" "Anti" Miles challenged.

"I didn't say anything like that. You're the one who began it."

"CHE!"

"Che-chi-cha-chu-cho." He dully chanted.

"W-WHAT?"

"Your doom's coming."

"No way!"

"You were built recently and infused with a lot of ego and cocky mood but an imitator can't hope to overcome the original just by pulling random Battle Cards with no sense of strategy."

"Says the man!"

"Well. I might have been around for just a while but I've taken part in many VR Missions. I've learnt the hard way." He shrugged.

"This ain't over yet! Muramasa Blade!"

"Heat Upper X."

"Gruah!"

"Breaker Attacks, according to the new rules, can intercept and halt Sword Attacks." Miles explained.

"Shit. We need to get up-to-date!"

"Guess that. Guess Twilight thinks this is the _Sengoku_."

"Wha~t? You won't be laughing for much more, you! Anger Fire X!"

"Wide Wave X!"

"Shit!"

"Had enough? Or do you need more?"

"Not yet!"

"How stubborn… You won't admit reality, huh? I guess the one battling Storm must be as stubborn as you."

"Count Bomb X!"

"Huff. Guess you need to learn it the hard way. Galaxy Advance! Mad Vulcan 1! 2! 3! Acid Ace GA! Go!"

A copy of Acid Ace materialized and locked on "Anti" Miles to hit him twice with the sword: "Anti" Miles growled and dropped to the ground, exhausted.

"Shit. I'm off!"

He vanished with a flash and Miles sighed in relief.

"Miles? Where'd you go off to?" Kiboyama asked through a voice-only channel.

"To face my own "Anti"…"

"What! So Storm went to do the same?" Tsukasa gasped.

"So our prediction was off." Subaru muttered.

"Looks like it. This one was but cockiness and arrogance."

"No wonder. From what I've heard about Twilight…" Kiboyama muttered.

"Well. I better wait until Storm comes back to ask how it went like."

"Yeah. It'd be best if we didn't interrupt him, Tsukasa – kun." Kiboayama told him.

"By the way… Have you seen my pendant? I seem to have dropped it by accident…"

"Here it is: on the desk! Huh? "T-S-G"… War-Rock! The jerk!"

"I'm going to complain…! Writing silly stuff in MY pendant…!"

12:12 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh…"

"Enough tag."

"Yeah. The other ended. Now's my turn."

"So your orders are to wait for one of the two to end up?"

"Yeah! And two will show up every two days."

"And in the end the Big Boss is gonna come out."

"Who knows? Heh, heh, heh."

Storm had seemingly been forced to play a game of tag across the Dummy Car Cybernetics until "Anti" Storm halted and drew two Elec Slash blades frizzling with electricity.

"200, 000 Volts!"

"What! Holy Panel, Super Barrier!"

"Shit."

The attack got nullified and "Anti" Storm growled.

"By the _daimaou_! Impossible!"

"Not impossible at all. Your attack counted as 1 hit and the Super Barrier can withstand up to 5 consecutive hits. The Holy Panel will also help to reduce damage by half. This is having a strategy ready."

"Strategy and whatever! I'll pulverize you! Plasma Gun X!"

"Did you forget what I just told you? Eat Plasma Gun X yourself!"

"Ugrah!"

"And now… Elec Slash!"

"Grah!"

"Inazuma Head X!"

A Virus formed on the field and some bolts of lightning began to rain down in the field at random until one hit "Anti" Storm.

"Shit!"

"Stun Knuckle! Elec Slash!"

"I'm being pawned and I can't even hit him! I thought I was invincible to Elec type attacks!"

"No – one is invincible. And Elec VS Elec doesn't imply any bonus."

"Shit! Mad Vulcan X! Go~!"

The 15 rounds did overload the Super Barrier (the 5 first ones) and the remaining 10 did hit Storm but he didn't care much because their power had been reduced by half.

"That's it? Heh. It's only 50 HP. And at its max it only does 150: no big deal, really." He taunted.

"Che! Galaxy Advance! Mummy Hand 1! 2! 3! Gemini Thunder GA!"

"Why, why… Gemini, my processor… Anyway… Aura!"

A copy of Gemini Spark (both GS Black and White) formed and they fused their golden armor to shoot a powerful attack at Storm but he shrugged and used the Aura to nullify it during that turn.

"Nya~h!"

"So you've got Cat Complex."

"Say that again!"

"Cat Complex."

"T-this JERK! Elec Slash! Double Mode! Go~!"

"Huff. Air Spread X! Counter Hit!"

"D-damn it!"

"Edogiri Blade X!"

"Shit! What's with that Folder! It's over-powered!" "Anti" Storm growled once he'd recovered.

"You're the one over-powered with that GA…"

"And you're Mr. Perfect, huh?"

"Maybe. I couldn't care less. Maybe your accomplice is writing off a report to make you look like an idiot."

"Anti M! The jerk! I knew it! He's trying to degrade me~! I gotta vent off this ANGER into YOU!"

"Typical of a bully." Storm calmly taunted.

"Galaxy Advance! Sword, Sword, Jet Attack 1! Hurricane Dance!"

"Anti" Storm locked on Storm and formed intense air currents which hit Strom four times in a row but he wasn't too surprised by the attack: he merely drew a Wood Slash Battle Card and hit the enemy.

"Grah! Wood? You can use Wood Battle Cards?"

"Of course. I'm not programmed to use just one element and unique attacks like the berserk Wizards of two and a half years ago. I'm a standard model Wizard, anyway."

"Hey! Now that I think about it: why can you and Miles use Folders if you're not controlled by your owners?" He realized with a gasp and sounding like there was something weird going on.

"They're not our owners, they're our pals. And that's because I've got a Folder installed on me. Wizard memory capability has been improved over these years. And it makes us less dependent if we need to fight back and we can't establish a line with our pals." He lectured.

"Here comes the lecturer, huh?" He grumbled.

"I guess you've got a Storm Mania."

"S-Storm Mania~? What the hell is that?"

"Dunno. Maybe it only exists in your vain imagination."

"Wha~t? Galaxy Advance! Cannon! 3 Cards! Impact Cannon!"

The blast hit Storm and "Anti" Storm recoiled from the shooting: Storm shrugged and simply looked at his screen.

"Folder Back."

"What's THAT?"

"Something the Subspace and the Satella Police developed and now it's become legal for everyone to buy. You can restock the whole Folder and this gets restocked too, so… You never run out of Battle Cards." He explained with a shrug.

"CHE! Anti RM! The jerk! He was supposed to be up-to-date but no~! The guy was wasting the time with some silly stuff!"

"Mwah, hah, hah."

"Nyah, hah, hah."

"Sigma and War Rock… Don't get in MY way." Storm sighed.

"Don't worry, Storming Storm! We're just watching from our VIP seats, ya see~!" Sigma laughed.

"The magazine jerk ran off begging for his sanity and submitted to the police, even! And since Akatsuki had sanctioned the thing by saying the police wasn't there to deal with loud upstairs neighbors… Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh!" War Rock laughed.

"By all the… This city's mad or what?"

"Welcome to the club." Storm told him.

"This ain't over yet! Break Saber X!"

"Giant Axe. It's also Breaker!"

"Hrah!"

"Eat this!"

"Gruah! That axe thing is no joke, alright!"

"You thought it was? How _naïve_ of you."

"Wha~t?"

"Mwah, hah, hah… The Little Gray Cloud is annoyed, Rocky~…"

"Sure is, Amgis – sama~… Heh, heh, heh…"

"You two stay quiet and do me a favor." Storm grumbled.

"Sure~!" Both laughed.

"Let's settle it, pale meek original!"

"Pale meek original? Patent it, smart chum."

"Nya~h! Destroy Upper! Drill Arm X!"

"Ground Wave X! Radar Missile!"

Both hit each other with their attacks and began to look tired: "Anti" Storm grumbled something under his breath.

"Bah! Enough! I'll settle it next time around!"

He vanished with a flash and Storm sighed in relief while War Rock and Sigma showed up there.

"Storm? How'd it go?" Tsukasa asked.

"Meh! No big deal. Cocky, _amateur_… The guy didn't know how to properly fight! And they're all rivaling each other, anyway. And blaming his accomplices for wasting the time or not doing the homework, too…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Warus Rockus – samus cursed them!"

"Jeez. Stop with the Latin corruption. Go mackerel."

"Mwah, hah, hah… And then there were no magazine jerks!"

"Huff. Settle it yourselves. I'm off!" Storm fumed.

"Heh, heh, heh… They'll fear Warus Rockus – samus forever!"

"And Sigmus – samus as well! Mwah, hah, hah… Leave at null power!"


	4. Chapter 4: Of insults and berserkers

**Chapter 4: Of insults and berserkers **

14:14 PM (Japan Time), Monday September the 17th…

"… Huff. While Kizamaro – kun has his meal I want to enjoy some peace and silence in the library and updating my databases…"

"I rather like to do that, too. Ox and War Rock need to start picking on each other."

"Let devil bite me if two more "Anti" guys will show up today, Miles."

"Yeah. If our hunches are correct…"

Pedia, Mode, Storm and Miles were downloading data within the Kodama Middle library server along with other Wizards: Pedia and Mode were talking with each other while Storm and Miles hushed to each other.

"Should we follow them if they're called away?"

"Yeah. It'd be wise. We could assist them."

"Mwah, hah, hah… King Teresa's come~!" Sigma's voice rang out.

"CHUT!" They all scolded.

"Yikes!"

"This is the library! Stay quiet! Or go out!" The Admin Wizard scolded.

"My bad… I thought it was the lounge…"

"Lounge? There's no such place."

"War Rock…! He tricked me, the…! My bad!"

Sigma ran off and the other four rolled their eyes.

"War Rock… Emissary of Trouble with Capital T." Storm grumbled.

"That was obvious. Heck, Pedia and Mode have had to bear with him for over two and a half years by now. We've only been around for 5-6 months to begin with. We can't complain." Miles sighed.

"I know."

"Hey! Did ya know it? The Warus Rockus Disease has begun!" War Rock hushed to Pedia and Mode.

"Oh yes?" Pedia wasn't impressed.

"Wolf will beat your score at basketball." Mode let out.

"Huh! Heck!"

He gasped and warped out: both sighed in relief.

"Hi there~… Uncle Omega's come to the town from far, far away~…"

"Jeez. Now Omega's back, too." Miles grumbled.

"Lovely."

Omega happened to be a Wizard about a meter and eighty tall.

A blue jewel shaped like an inverted triangle was set on the forehead of his helmet which was emitting a cross-shaped flash.

His eyes' irises were blue and they displayed amusement while long blond hair came out from behind him and reached until the floor.

He had a red vest over his mainly black body and red armor over his forearms and boots: two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots as well.

"So! What's going on with this "Anti" tale?" He asked Pedia.

"Storm and Miles know more about it, sir."

"By the way, Mode. Did you meet Moon Disaster?"

"Why should I, sir?"

"'Cause ya tell him to switch _modes_…"

"Isn't that a pun on _moods_?" Mode sighed.

"Ahem! If you're not going to be helpful then come out! The Library is not a place to chit-chat!" The Admin scolded.

"Sure. Then I'll be borrowing the VIP Suite."

"VIP Suite? Who the heck is saying such nonsense?"

"Dunno. Guess your replacement is."

"KMLA2! That Wizard…! He'll hear from me!" The Admin grumbled.

Omega ran off and Miles went with him while Storm remained there to watch over the others: they materialized in the rooftop.

"Alright, Smiles. What's the deal?"

"Miles! Not "Smiles"!" He protested.

"My bad."

"Anyway! These "Anti" are sponsored by Twilight."

"What! I thought it was Hyde and the punk!"

"No. They're gray-colored copies with a lot of ego and amateur battling tactics. They've all been beaten or fled the scene when things began to get awry for them. They pop out every two days and there are a total of 13: Dr. Lartes suspects you 3 are in the list, too."

"Hmpf. No imitator will beat me." He now looked serious and hostile.

"Of course not. They were lazily built in a rush and they even fight each other or accuse each other of incompetency."

"Hmpf… As expected of Twilight… The "Darkloids" in Zenay III did the same thing back when the "Shooting Star Adventures" deal, which is how Boss titled it… The only ones who did cooperate were those four who were killed by the bastard in the end…"

"I know. Well. We suspect Mode and Pedia are included, too, so we're watching over them. They might be called away and their rivals might take profit of their lack of battle experience. That's why we'll back them up and remotely operate their Folders."

"Wise thinking. We'll catch them with the guard lowered." Omega calmly nodded in agreement.

"Some are using the Mu soldiers as proxy bodies to "Denpa-Henkan"."

"So their true form would be the source Wizard: a copy of War-Rock and another of Harp."

"Yeah. Those two seemed to have sadistic traits, even."

"Jeez. The last thing we needed around!" He grumbled.

"Blame that jerk."

"This time around I'll make pieces outta the jerk."

"Be our guest. But they're seemingly operating from a new planet somewhere."

"Hum. If the jerk wants to be fitting… I guess mine will be the last to come to face me…" Omega rubbed his chin.

"Could be."

"Hello? Miles? It's me. Mode got called out by a Denpa – kun having a message saying someone important wanted to meet him in Shiisaa Pedestal Cybernetics. I'm going." Storm called out.

"OK. Be careful. Ah! By the way: Sigma was roaming close by so maybe you could send him to try to corner one of those."

"Good. Sigma? Do you copy?"

"Sir Omega! I do, sir. I'm in Kodama Elementary's Watering System Cybernetics… I'm looking for War Rock! He tricked me!"

"Save that for later. Go to the Shiisaa Pedestal Cybernetics. Hide your form and be ready to catch "Anti" Mode as he gets tired. Top priority: move it!"

"Roger!"

"Don't move until he's weakened. Stay quiet. It's essential."

"Understood! I'm on my way, sir! I'll take the Japan Cosmo Wave 1 and get there."

"I'm going to check on Pedia."

"Do that. I'll be waiting here for your call."

Storm warped back inside of the Library and found Pedia who had finished downloading the data and was now reviewing it.

"SHF. Super High Frequency: used by orbital satellites and ranging from 3 to 30 Giga Hz. Other uses include micro-waves, Wi-Fi connections and other forms of data transmission. Interesting." He muttered.

He warped out of the Library and got to one of the labs where a teacher was preparing a class about chemistry.

"It's still a bit early…"

"Excuse me! Pedia – sama? A person needs your assistance." A Denpa – kun headed over to him.

"Oh yes? Where is that person that?"

"The Small-Model Antenna Cybernetics in the WAXA Japan Branch…"

"Fine. I'll use the Cosmo Wave and get there."

"Thank you very much."

"Omega? Small-Model Antenna Cybernetics, WAXA Japan Branch." Miles, who'd overheard that, reported.

"Hum. The spot where Spade Magnets R was at… They like recycling locations, don't they? Anyway. I'm off to there. Meet you there." Omega calmly whispered back.

"Well. I'll leave a note for Kizamaro – kun and be on my way. It must be something important, I take it."

Pedia warped and Miles followed from some distance: they travelled across the Cosmo Wave and found Moon Disaster in front of the entrance of the WAXA Japan Branch Area.

"Ah… Troublesome! They had to be doing maintenance right now… YO, YO, YO! Guess I gotta wait."

"Hum. How odd…" Pedia muttered.

14:39 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hello~? It's me, Mode! Is anyone here~?"

"Your doom, you skinny imitator!"

"W-what?"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! I'm Sorcerer "Anti" Mode!"

"W-what is this about?"

"HAH! Your so-called "allies" didn't tell ya ANYTHING, EH?"

Mode stumbled upon "Anti" Mode who had an evil grin on his face and his eyes were stylized to look "eviler" than Mode's ones: she gasped and the "Anti" began to laugh without noticing Storm or Sigma, who'd hidden not too far away from the spot.

"Galaxy Advance! Giza Wheel 1! 2! 3! Moon Disaster GA!"

"Super Barrier!"

"Wha~t? I was supposed to win with that one hit!"

Moon Disaster formed on the Field and moved left while shooting 3 "Moon Cutters" and one extra while moving to the right but since they didn't go over the 5 consecutive attack rules, then the Super Barrier withheld those: Mode looked surprised.

"Mode. Chut. It's me, Storm… I'm helping you out. Pretend you're doing it… OK?"

"OK…!"

"What's that?"

"I guess luck is on my side."

"Wha~t?"

"You got the short straw."

"Damn it! I knew it! "Anti" P rigged the thing!" He growled.

_Mwah, hah, hah. Sounds like it, yeah!_ Sigma thought.

_Hmpf… I figured as much…_

"Galaxy Advance! Jet Attack 2, Jet Attack 2, Bomb Riser! Destroy Missile GA! Total damage: 840 HP!"

"W-WHA~T? UWA~H!"

The gigantic missiles rained down on "Anti" Mode and he groaned after they'd all landed.

"I have an Ability to strengthen GAs." Mode whistled a tune.

"Not fair! "Anti" RM! The jerk! He should've told us!"

"I guess he didn't do his homework." He muttered.

"Sure didn't! Daimaou should punish them!" "Anti" Mode growled.

"Is that all?"

"No, damn it all! Impact Cannon! Air Spread X!"

"Forgot about my Super Barrier, I see."

"Fuck. I sure did! Damn it! I gotta find something… Mad Vulcan X!"

"No big deal."

The first 5 rounds of the Mad Vulcan X did get to pierce the Super Barrier but Mode didn't mind the other 10.

"You're supposed to SCREAM in AGONY!"

"Supposed, supposed… And if I don't want to then what?"

"Nya~h!"

"How narrow-minded. You need to read more books."

"Shaddup! You magician's rabbit wannabe!"

"Doesn't the same apply to you?"

"I'm the Magician, not the tool!"

"A rabbit isn't a tool. It's an animal." Mode corrected.

"Big Grenade! Break Saber X!"

"Sanctuary."

"Fuck it."

"Galaxy Advance! Heat Up 1, Heat Up 1, Jet Attack 1! Ox Tackle GA!"

"Wha~t? Ugrah!"

Ox Fire formed on the Field and tackled "Anti" Mode to have him hit a nearby wall: he groaned and looked pissed off.

"My turn, damn it all! Galaxy Advance! Wide Wave 1! 2! 3! Queen Virgo GA! Nyah, hah, hah!"

"Ops. Trouble, I guess."

Queen Virgo formed on the Field and swung her staff to then summon a water dragon which travelled across it and hit Mode: she didn't seem to be too surprised by the attack.

"Since I halved its output…"

"Heck. I keep on forgetting about that!"

"Maybe you need an upgrade to your vision system?"

"Like Hell!"

"So the planet must be hellish hot, eh?" Mode taunted.

"Nya~h! I won't fall for that!"

"Then climb for this."

"What the hell is that?" He growled.

"A pun, a pun…"

"Che!"

"No mood, I see. Maybe Mood Girl needs to bring it."

"Who, "Anti" HN? The gal's too self-centered!"

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me."

"Wha~t?"

"Your _daimaou_ uses you to collect battle data to then absorb it himself and get stronger."

"What! I thought it was for our sake!"

"You underestimate his unstable skull."

"Wha~t? Damn ya!"

"Galaxy Advance! Anger Fire 1! 2! 3! Ox Fire GA!"

Ox Fire formed again and inhaled before bathing "Anti" Mode in flames: they growled.

"Jeez! I'm a worthy guy! I'll prove it to ya!"

"Well. I'm a girl. I guess the _daimaou_ mixed it up."

"Che! I can't believe His Grace would be mistaken on that!"

"Anyone can make mistakes, you know." Mode shrugged.

"Shaddup! Windy Attack X! How's that for a change, huh?"

"It tickled."

"Nya~h! I feel OVERWHELMINGLY DISGUSTED!"

"I feel bored myself. I could be looking up Chemistry in the school by now as well."

"Who needs Chemistry?"

"Lots of people. Chemistry is involved in the designing and printing of solid-state circuits from transparent sheet to copper plaque…"

"Che! Smart-lass!"

"Not like I'm presuming… I'm just listing one example."

"Poison Knuckle! Smile Coin X!"

"Aura! And those coins are no big deal."

"Che!"

The "Aura" blocked the Poison Knuckle and got blow: a shower of coins began to rain down in a row and some hit Mode but she merely hummed a tune.

"By the way! Synchro Hook X, Mr. Imitator."

"Gruh! I'm left with just 50 HP points by now!"

"Chance!"

"HUH? What?"

Sigma and Storm jumped down on that moment and cornered "Anti" Miles, who gasped.

"W-where'd you come out from? I locked the access point!"

"We sneaked inside at the same time Mode did. And I was the one operating the Folder, anyway." Storm grinned.

"Mwah, hah, hah. A nightmare is waiting for ya: the Math Exam!"

"Wha~t?"

Sigma suddenly gripped the "Anti" Mode with the right hand and lifted him as he growled while Storm seemingly began to scan his body.

"No coordinate data anywhere… Careful sure they are… They must be recalled by someone else." He muttered.

"Shit! Retrieve me!"

There was a flash and "Anti" Mode vanished from the scene: the real Mode sighed in relief.

"This is Miles. The "Anti" Pedia has finally unlocked the Warp Point."

"Alright. Go for it and kick their hides."

14:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Phew! At last. See you, Mr. Moon Disaster."

"YO, YO, YO! Akatsuki is gonna learn 'bout my new _single_~!"

Pedia made it to the surroundings of the WAXA Japan Branch and headed for the Small-Model Antenna: he performed a "Cyber-In" and began to float across its space without noticing Miles and Omega who quickly took positions to watch the main spot.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Jackass! Moron! Son of a…! Idiot! Jerk! Bastard!"

"W-what?"

"I'm the "Anti" Pedia and I'm the Insult Pedia too! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"W-what's this about?"

"Easy, you sucker! I'm gonna pound your hide!"

Pedia stumbled upon his "Anti" who had also been edited to have an "eviler" look to him but it rather looked psychotic.

"Chut. It's me, Miles… I'll handle the Folder… You just pretend not to be impressed… That's all…" He hushed.

"A-alright, sir…"

"Huh? Did cha say somethin' or are ya about to piss in the pants?"

"What does that mean?"

"Hah! Guess a silly guy like wouldn't get it."

_Huff. Not like you can understand it, either. _Omega grumbled under his breath.

_I dunno what the heck that's about._ Miles sighed.

"Mwah, hah, hah! This BRAT! I'm gonna PULVERIZE a KIDDO!"

"That sounds dreadful…!" Pedia looked terrified.

"This is yer doom, ye piece of dirt!"

_You're the piece of dirt, you moron._ Omega grumbled.

_Let's get it on already._

"My turn, you jackass! Galaxy Advance! Smile Coin 1! 2! 3! Phantom Black GA!"

"Grave Joker X!"

"No way!"

Grave Joker hit the ground and the "Giant Buildings" formed: Pedia quickly hid behind one and the Phantom Claw bounced off it: "Anti" Pedia got a twitch over his right eye.

"This ne'er-do-well!" He grumbled.

"Galaxy Advance! Machine Flame 1! 2! 3! Apollon Flame GA!"

"What in the fuck…?"

Apollon Flame formed his "Sun Flare" attack and dropped it on the field in front of "Anti" Pedia: he growled as the intense heat burnt him and he then hissed.

"Bomb Riser! Off go all obstacles! Galaxy Advance! Shark Cutter 1, 3 of them! Brachio Wave GA!"

"Guess it'll hurt… Wait! Sanctuary!"

"Nya~h! Everyone's into Sanctuary nowadays! Not fair!"

"All's fair in a battle!"

"Shit! This rascal! This jackal! Vulcan Seed X!"

"Shield!"

Pedia brought out the default Shield and blocked some of the seeds before moving to the other tile where he silently formed another Sanctuary Panel.

"Stop moving, you old sperm whale! You gallows-bird!" The "Anti" Pedia growled.

"Gallows became obsolete in the 21st century." He reminded him.

"CHE!"

"El Che Guevara was a highly popular fighter of the 20th century which…"

"I didn't mean that! You poultice!"

_This guy is really fond of centuries-old words, huh? Guess that Twilight sunnuva's to blame. _Omega inwardly fumed.

_Amateurs… All of them… _Miles inwardly sentenced.

"You curse! You catastrophe! You calamity!"

"Are you going to fight or not?"

"I don't get it! You're supposed to have zero idea of battles!"

"Maybe I've been looking at how others fight?"

"Shit. Why couldn't the others tell me that before?"

"They didn't have enough imagination."

"You pain in the neck! You pest! You bore! Rolling Nuts X!"

"It didn't hurt that much."

"Panel Format! Hah! Say farewell to the filthy Sanctuary!"

"Galaxy Advance! Snow Ball 3, Snow Ball 3, Double Stone! Yeti Blizzard GA! Go for it!"

"Shit!"

Yeti Blizzard dropped into the field and made some snow ball rain down at random: two fell atop "Anti" Pedia and he growled.

"I'm not done yet!"

"Give it up." Pedia taunted.

"T-this MONKEY!"

"Wrong Wizard. Try again."

"T-this road-hog!"

"Oh yes? I never drive. Do you?" Pedia whistled a tune next.

"T-this SCOUNDREL!"

"Flash Spear X! Mahi Plus! Mummy Hand X! Elec Plus 30!"

"Grah! What a combo!"

The Flash Spear momentarily blinded him but he was also paralyzed: and the Mummy Hand inflicted further damage given how it was powered up to begin with.

"Enough." A voice echoed.

"Twilight – sama!"

"What!" Both Omega and Miles gasped.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Twilight! You sick bastard! Fight ME!" Omega deactivated his camouflage and drew a green-colored pyramidal energy saber with a white hilt made of a trapeze and a column.

"What woodlouses! What slater! Mere sow!" He taunted.

"I knew it: that rascal's the source of that fake's idiomatic dictionary."

"Come back, my warrior! That's enough for today. They could've ambushed you but I knew better after seeing what happened to "Anti" Mode!" Twilight proclaimed.

"Ah! The beetles! The gourds! The concentrated smallpox sequels!" The guy hissed.

"The smallpox was eradicated by the 20th century."

"The Wikipedia reincarnation strikes back!" Twilight laughed.

"W-what?" He looked bewildered.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"FIGHT ME!" Omega was getting infuriated.

"Why waste the great me's time with a mere lapdog?"

"Lapdog! Me! These "Anti" are lapdogs!"

"Who knows?"

"You lowlife do!"

"This time around no mirror tricks will save _kyoudai_'s hide!"

"I wonder about that."

"Tremble in despair and hopelessness!"

"You lowlife will be the one doing that SOON."

"You mutton-heads! You nincompoops! You ninnies!" "Anti" Pedia taunted next.

He laughed and vanished with a flash while Omega's blade began to slowly change to red color and so did his irises as his expression became feral: there was a chuckle.

"Yeah… Go as wild as you lowlifes want… Soon… The worthless ones will be deceased and the worthy ones become flesh to be used! Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Omega. Cool it down." Miles told him.

"Che! I'll remember this. These rascals! Omega has spoken!"

Omega warped out and Pedia also did so: Miles came out and began to undo the road with him while they spotted Moon Disaster making some weird dance and flipping in front of the entrance as if trying to impress Shidou, who looked on with annoyance.

"YO, YO, YO! The Moon Ace dance for Ace Moon!"

"JEEZ! I'm telling you to show that to the Antarctica penguins! Now get lost already! I wanna have more time to shine~! Damn it all!"

"No good, Shidou, no good…! Calm down or else… Trouble will ensue!"


	5. Chapter 5: Vegetables and omens

**Chapter 5: Vegetables and omens**

15:25 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday September the 19th…

"… I n-need a green tea… I really do!"

"Come on, Utagai – kun. Calm down."

"T-that's e-easier said t-than done, Amachi – san…"

"Jeez! How many times do we need to go over this?"

"Be energetic, Utagai!"

"Hum. I agree with Daigo – kun."

"You know, back on the 2170s…"

"…hi-energy tea was popular, we know, hakase~…"

Utagai was trembling and muttering inside of the WAXA Command Room: Amachi Mamoru tried to calm him down, Cygnus was getting exasperated once again, Hoshikawa Daigo tried to energize him, the Chief nodded in agreement and Dr. Yoiri began to recall something: the rest of the staff seemed to know the rest of what she was going to say and finished for her with obvious defeatism.

"Oh my. Did I tell you already?"

"Yes, hakase~…"

"My, my. When I focus on improvements to the "Noise Canceller" I forget about what I said." She rubbed her chin.

"Did anyone see my "Sweet Candy" or Queen Tia hid it to pick on me?"

"Shidou. Don't go accusing without proof."

"Says the Devil's advocate! She's done it before!"

"Akatsuki. Diet time."

"Ya aren't my housewife, Queen Tia!"

"More like I try to be helpful."

"Jeez!"

"Now, now! Queen Tia. I hope you won't go too far."

"No, ma'am… All's under control."

"And that extends to that other child, too."

Queen Tia came in while folding her arms: Shidou growled something and Dr. Yoiri walked over to her to talk with her in a hushed tone.

"I know."

"I hope you do! This is serious, Queen Tia! It's not something you can then say "I had a mood"… And pretend it was nothing! You've got that child terrified by now. And that WON'T do. AT ALL!" She began to get annoyed, even.

"I suppose so, ma'am." She didn't beat an eyebrow.

"Come to my office in 5 minutes' time!" She commanded.

"Roger."

She simply departed the room but not before directing a dull and bored glare at Shidou over her right shoulder: Shidou looked like he needed something into which to vent his anger.

"I need a bottle of water! I'm going to fetch it! Huff!"

Shidou walked off and the Chief sighed.

"What a mad spot."

"Totally, sir…" Amachi sighed.

"I-I'll be r-right back…"

"Don't be so defeatist!"

Utagai stepped into the elevator and got downstairs: he headed for the vending machine and pressed the "Canned Green Tea" button after he slotted three coins: he picked the can up but at that moment the machine rattled and some music began to play out.

"What's this m-music? The o-omens came?"

"I don't think so."

"GROAH!"

"UWA~H!"

THUD!

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Jeez. I knew it. War Rock. It had to be you."

"Yo~! Swan Lake wannabe~!"

"Stop with that pointless nickname already and do us a favor."

War Rock suddenly popped out of the machine and Utagai gasped before fainting from the scare and hitting the floor: War Rock laughed while Cygnus was annoyed.

"Did ya know?"

"Know what?"

"That Omen Man will drink up all tea in the machine~!"

"Oh, by all the… This is maddening."

"What happened? Jeez. War Rock. You again?" Shidou rushed over and slapped his forehead in defeat.

"Yo! Acid Disaster! Was today's _disaster_ too _acid_ for yer taste~?"

"That joke is idiotic!" He growled.

"Totally." Acid dully added.

"Claw Man's come to claw a man!"

"Shut up." He got annoyed.

"Hit a vibe~?"

"Storm is gonna beat the hi-score record in the Spica Mall games."

"What! The storming storm! I'm gonna beat the guy thrice!"

War Rock warped out while Shidou lifted Utagai and sat him on a chair before sighing and patting his shoulders.

"Utagai – san! Come on! It was War Rock's meddling, as usual!"

"Ah! I thought the vengeful spirit of Gemini had come out!"

"Vengeful spirit…? FMs don't become vengeful spirits… If you mean the "Ghosts" those are portions of data which go on absorbing foreign data and thus getting stronger from time to time." Cygnus sighed.

"And Gemini's data was taken by Kuroban time ago outta Tsukasa's Star Carrier, so… You needn't worry about that. Worry about how to beat your own "Anti" which will show up sooner or later. We've had 6 out of 13 insofar and today's another day for them to show up. Today's ones will amount to 8." Shidou told him.

"Yikes! My "Anti"…! It must be as sadistic as I was!"

"You weren't sadistic! Cygnus was just fueling your negative emotions but he's reformed ever since that."

"I was rather savage in the past. We all were." Cygnus sighed.

"Well, well! No use crying over spilled milk! Cheer it up!"

"This Alps Cretin!" Someone laughed.

"Jeez. Sigma." Shidou grumbled.

"Graduate mutton-heads!"

"W-w-WHAT?" Utagai looked bewildered.

"Utagai's gonna win the Mister Universe 2206 Contest!"

"NO WAY~!" He gasped in horror.

"JEEZ! BEHAVE~!" Cygnus snapped.

"There we go again! I gotta call Dr. Lartes and have him lock the guy for a while in the capsule until he needs to go out into a field mission!"

"You sure do." Acid sighed.

"Hmmm? Mail, Utagai… Someone named "Your Most Hated Fan" challenges you to come over to the "Island Display Cybernetics" in Shiisaa Island's Shiisaa Castle." He read.

"Your "Anti" is fond of sarcasm." Shidou fumed.

"E~H? I must battle that one~? My prayer beads! Where are my prayer beads? I need my prayer beads!"

"Oh boy."

"Akatsuki – san? What's the matter, sir?"

"Huh? Ah. Blood Shadow. Utagai got challenged and he goes into frenzy mode, you see… What's up?" He greeted as he spotted Blood Shadow walked up to him.

"I'm looking for Sigma. He sneaked out sans permit, sir."

"I'm sure he's in the "Desk Cybernetics"… Yeah, the "Cybernetics" of MY own desk…" He signaled it while grumbling.

"Roger, sir."

Blood Shadow walked over to the Wave Station next to the vending machine and performed "Denpa-Henkan" before running across the Wave Roads and heading into the desk.

"Guess I'll escort you."

"Please do so, Akatsuki – kun!" He pleaded.

"No need to plead! I'm worried about your safety! If you get into a pinch I'll remotely operate your Folder, too!"

"That'd do WONDERS. Really." Cygnus sighed.

"That is a wise strategy. Miles and Storm told me about it."

"It's settled, then! Let's go! To Shiisaa Island! And let's get some donuts."

"Jeez. Don't invoke further anger from Queen Tia, Shidou!"

15:48 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah! This puny island is MINE!"

"T-there you are! You evil-doer!"

"Hah! That's my original? I'm "Anti" Cygnus Wing! And I'll prove to be above ya! You cream plaster _à la_ urchin grease!"

"E~H?"

"Jeez. Fight, Utagai!"

"R-roger!"

"My turn! Go, my servants!"

Cygnus Wing eventually stumbled upon his "Anti" version whom had reddish eye irises and a creepy evil grin on his face: he began to scare the hell outta Cygnus Wing before he summoned those rubber ducks which flew towards Cygnus Wing.

"F-Feather Dance!"

"Hah! It tickles, pale-skinned stranger!"

"Pale-skinned, sure thing…" Cygnus grumbled.

"My turn! Cygnus Dance!"

"Uack!"

The "Anti" Cygnus Wing spun upon his axis while lifting his arms and rammed into the real one before completing the maneuver and resuming "flying" position.

"Mwah, hah, hah! That's all?"

"N-no! Cygnus Dance, too!"

"Uack! Damn it! You itinerant cyclone!"

The real one also did the same and the "Anti" Cygnus Wing got annoyed so he began to swear at the real one.

"Feather Dance, you four-legs Cyrano!"

"What's a Cyrano?" Cygnus Wing wondered.

"Dunno. Maybe Pedia knows."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Galaxy Advance! Powder Shot 2, Powder Shot 2, Typhoon Dance! Condor Geograph GA! Go~!"

"Oh dear me!"

Condor Geograph formed his Condor Missiles and shot them at the real Cygnus Wing who struggled to dodge but then got hit by the "Anti" Cygnus Wings' "Cygnus Dance" and one of the missiles: he groaned and flew backwards while the fake laughed.

"Huh! Here I go! Galaxy Advance! Dummy Spider 3! 3 of them! Ophiucus Queen GA!"

Ophiucus Queen crawled across the field and left a wake of Poison panels on the left side of it while hitting "Anti" Cygnus Wing as he moved towards the right: he growled.

"T-these BEETLES!"

"My, my." Cygnus sighed.

"W-won't it end soon?"

"You fool! Of course not! I'll bury you yet!"

"B-bury me~? I'm innocent!"

"You're in the way! Die~!"

"Ua~h! Impact Cannon!"

"Whack! Damn it. I lowered the guard."

"You sure did." Cygnus taunted.

"You blasters!"

"Blasters? Patent it, smart-mouthed."

"C-Cygnus, t-that surely c-can't be a g-good idea."

"Oh. Be quiet. Pull another GA!"

"Not so fast! Feather Dance!"

"Ugh! Galaxy Advance! Ground Wave 1! 2! 3! Cygnus Wing GA!"

"Wha~t?"

A copy of the real Cygnus Wing formed and executed the "Cygnus Dance" to hit "Anti" Cygnus Wing while the real one chained his own attack at the same time thus inflict further damage.

"Unbelievable! A cowardly jerk like you fighting back like that…! That can't be! Someone's helping you out!"

"Who knows, Mr. Anti?"

"This outlaw…!"

"Aren't you yourselves the outlaws, anyway? Galaxy Advance!"

"R-roger! Galaxy Advance! Wide Wave 1, Wide Wave 1, Bubble Hook 1! Cancer Bubble GA! Water Plus 30! Go~!"

"Fuck! Ugh!"

Cancer Bubble formed a tsunami and trapped the "Anti" Cygnus Wing inside of a bubble while the real one drew a Plasma Gun X and shot it at him to inflict double damage.

"Shit! This isn't over yet!"

"I didn't say it was over."

"T-this SCATTERBRAINED!"

"T-that sounds grim, Cygnus…"

"Bah. Don't mind those, Utagai."

"My turn! Great Axe! Hah!"

"Uack! That axe thing was for real!"

"If you lower the guard we're done for."

"G-guess that…"

"Galaxy Advance! Heavy Down 3! 3 of them! Auriga General GA!"

"E~h! There's no end to those~?"

"No! There's no end! Our hatred and grudge… They shall go on forming and reincarnating until the end of Time Eternal!"

"How poetic, truly."

"POETIC? T-these COWARDS!"

"Cowards? Us? And that doesn't apply to you? Hiding in another planet to begin with, sending those "Darkloids" to attack Planet FM…"

"Che! These rascals!"

"Galaxy Advance! Once again! Plasma Gun! Plasma Gun! Drill Arm 1! Crown Thunder GA! Thunder!"

"Fuck!"

Crown Thunder made some thunderbolts rain down in a cross-shaped pattern and despite the attempts to dodge one ended up hitting the "Anti" Cygnus Wing: they growled and used their ducks to have them hit the real one: the real one didn't seem to mind the blows too much to begin with.

"Who's helping you out?"

"Well. Maybe the Earl of Adventure?" Cygnus taunted.

"Wha~t? Don't screw me, you Lepidoptera!

"L-Lepidoptera~? What's that? An omen?"

"Jeez. It's an insect. Don't pay attention to his ramblings."

"Ramblings? My colorful speech, you mean!" He sneered.

"Oh my. Hit a vibe, Mr. Speeches?"

"T-these Macaques!"

"Those are omens too, Cygnus?"

"No. I think it's a species of monkey but I should ask Pedia."

"You macro-cephalous!"

"Oh yes? Here's a parting gift from us. Drill Arm 1, 3 of them! Galaxy Advance! Axis Jet GA!"

Spade Magnets formed there and compacted into his rocket form while summoning a white missile and a black missile at his sides: he shot forward and hit the "Anti" Cygnus Wing before suddenly shooting skywards from a hole in the ground thus hitting him twice.

"Fuck. I've had enough for once! I'll find your ultimate weakness and bury you 6 feet under! Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"They fled. Thanks for the help, Acid Ace."

"Oh. That was nothing. I hope my "Anti" lives up to his name." Acid Ace walked over to him.

"Shidou… You're asking for trouble."

"Jeez. Save me the lesson, Mr. Smart."

"L-let's… Let's go back, Cygnus!"

"Jeez. Alright. Meet you later…"

Cygnus Wing got out while Acid Ace warped out too: he appeared on the Wave Road and cocked his gun.

"I should check out what Hyde and the punk are up to… Let's go." He decided.

"Roger. By the way: a mail from Dr. Yoiri suggests you to try out 2170s canned energy tea." Acid let out.

"Jeez. She doesn't even realize there aren't any more."

"I'm afraid so." He sighed.

17:37 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Buruo~! Someone bothered to call us to the "Measurement Device Cybernetics" in the Crimson Factory which is where Dealer's hideout was at. It'd seem my "R" Version used to lurk here…"

"Huh… Guess it's those "Anti" guys Subaru was talkin' 'bout…"

"Sure thing! Buruo~! My flames are waking up! I want to burn!"

"Wroh, hoh, hoh, hoh! So you want to be turned into cinders!"

"There! The imitator, Gonta! Buruo~!"

"Yikes."

Ox Fire made it to the spot of his challenge, the "Measurement Device Cybernetics" in the Crimson Factory and found his imitator whose eyes glowed with a creepy purple glow.

"Wroh, hoh, hoh, hoh! I'll CRUSH you! You Nyctalopic!"

"W-what's that, Ox?"

"Dunno and I don't need to know! Go, Gonta!"

"OK! Galaxy Advance! Count Bomb 3! 3 of them! Break Count Bomb GA!"

"Wha~t?" "Anti" Ox Fire gasped.

The gigantic Break Count Bomb formed on the Field and began to count down: the imposter prepared to tackle and raw towards Ox Fire but he moved out of harm's way while the imposter bounced off the contention field and backed up: the bomb went off and produced several explosions which hit the imposter in a row: he growled and inhaled before vomiting flames but Ox Fire simply activated an Aura Battle Card.

"Don't tell me Acid Ace is helping ya out!"

"Buruo~! No! I'm using my training! Ya forget I'm a Satella Police "Raid Troop" Member!" He laughed.

"Don't get cocky there, Gonta!"

"Huh! Yeah! Alright! Anger Punch!"

Ox Fire quickly moved forward and when he was in front of the opponent he hit the ground with his right fist to momentarily stun the opponent: he then began to glow and roared.

"Burning Punch!"

He hit the ground and four pillars of fire popped out of it: one hit the stunned opponent and he growled.

"No more games! You Olibrius! Galaxy Advance! Snow Ball 3, Snow Ball 3, Wide Wave 3! Nadare Daiko GA!"

"Sanctuary! Super Barrier!"

Yeti Blizzard formed on the field and began to beat his chest with his punches: an avalanche began to rain down the length of the field and Ox Fire withstood it thanks to his Super Barrier: "Anti" Ox Fire cursed something under his breath.

"You Ophicleides! You Platypus! You Aardvark! You Ostrogoth!"

"He uses weird words." Gonta muttered.

"Meh! Like that'll help the guy win…" Ox wasn't impressed.

"Galaxy Advance! Piranha Kiss 2! 3 of them! Gekiryuu Wave GA!"

Brachio Wave surfaced from the "water" and formed a gigantic tsunami which rained down on Ox Fire but since he was still protected by the Super Barrier then it didn't inflict any real damage.

"Fire Breath!"

"Fire Breath!"

Both shot their "Fire Breaths" at each other and got nowhere: "Anti" Ox Fire was losing his patience by now.

"Burning Punch!"

"Burning Punch!"

Something similar happened again: Ox Fire was unaffected and the imitator wasn't being conscious of the damage he was accumulating insofar.

"GA! Kesran Posran 3! Kesran Posran 3! Tornado Dance! Light Saint GA!"

"Yikes!"

Queen Virgo descended in front of Ox Fire and formed the columns of light which spun around her anti-clockwise and they did get to overload the Super Barrier: "Anti" Ox Fire laughed.

"How's that, you bunch of savages?"

"Savages, ya say~?" Gonta grumbled.

"Smash 'em, Gonta!"

"Sure thin'!"

"You Bacon Heads! Pay attention! Ox Tackle!"

"Wide Wave X! Plasma Gun X!"

"Uack! What a combo! I'd never believed you had those!"

"They trained me well!"

"Don't get cocky."

"Buruo~! My turn, you imitator! Galaxy Advance! Cannon! 3 of them! Impact Cannon! Eat this!"

He scored a Counter Hit as the imposter was about to go for his "Fire Breath" attack and then jumped forward to attack with a Drill Arm X: the imposter howled.

"Damn it! My reflexes are slow! "Anti" CW must've messed with 'em!"

"Not my problem! Buruo~!" Gonta laughed.

"You shut it up, you Jerusalem artichokes!"

"What's Jerusalem, Ox?"

"Buruo~! Dunno! Ask Kizamaro."

"Guess I gotta ask the guy, yeah…"

"Oi! Don't ignore me! You jugglers!"

"What does that mean, anyway?"

"You cheaters!"

"Ya are the one who packs lotta GAs to begin with!"

"Wha~t? Ox Tackle!"

"Galaxy Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Giant Axe!"

"Uack! Gruah! That hurt! Damn it! These Troglodytes!"

"Troglodytes? Why don't they use normal words?"

"Buruo~! They wanna play the smart-lasses, that's why!"

"I'm not playing the smart-lass, I'm a GENIUS! You death-cheaters!" "Anti" Ox Fire boasted.

"D-death cheaters? That sounds so wrong, man."

"Burning Punch!"

"Burning Breath!"

Ox Fire dodged the pillars of fire and bathed the opponent in flames: the opponent was getting pissed off.

"T-this FORECASTLE!"

"Another weird word… Someone save my sanity."

"Buruo~! At least it ain't as maddening as Omega when he's in his "joker mood"… Thankfully, this time around, he switched to his "serious mood" and is hunting down hints of where these freaks come from."

"FREAK! ME? YOU URCHINS!"

"Buruo~! You skinny imitator!" Ox taunted.

"Wha~t?"

"Galaxy Advance! Anger Fire 2, Wide Wave 2, Heavy Down 2! Libra Balance GA!"

Libra Balance formed there and flung his scales to shoot a flame and a mass of water at the imposter: Ox Fire wasted no time and drew a Plasma Gun X.

"Eat this! Plasma Gun X!"

"Gurah! Not another bubble-elec combo! These breadcrumbs Coast Guards! "

"Coast Guards? I guess he's picked the wrong word."

"Sure has. Buruo~!"

"Machine Flame X!"

"Kogarashi X!"

"Uack!"

He caught the opponent with the guard down as he shot the spiraling wind at him: "Anti" Ox Fire began to pant.

"S-shit… I've accumulated too much damage…! And this damned gargles are still so fresh…! T-these rascals…! T-these scamps…!"

"Buruo~! Starting to realize your own limitations, you fool?"

"F-fuck 'em…! I'm outta 'ere!"

There was the bright flash and the imposter quit for the day so Ox Fire sighed in relief.

"Phew! We won, somehow."

"Heh! The guy will blame some other guy and they'll start fighting each other: they're so laughable, really! Buruo~!"

"Alright … Let's go home or else _iinchou_ will get mad… And I don't wanna annoy _iinchou_ anymore by now… Or else I have to eat vegetables…"

19:19 PM (Japan Time)…

"… And thus the blood-stained curtain falls upon the Romanian Court and their underlings!"

"Hyde… Ain't that a mockery of Hamlet to begin with?"

"A re-writing!"

"A mockery. No loopholes."

"Alright… Hyde's playing the scriptwriter again and mocking Hamlet but that ain't harmful so… Let's check on the punk."

"Roger."

Acid Ace had been watching an old manor in the outskirts of a village with binoculars and keeping an eye on the living room: Hyde, real ID of Phantom Black, was pacing in circles across the room followed by the Mu Denpa Body Phantom: he was making up some mockery of Hamlet and Phantom sighed.

"What would a disgraced actor like you know?" He laughed.

"I know. End of the tale."

"And thus the black-stained veil covers the drama of the Bulgarian Capital City! And no one knew of their fate!" Hyde made up another version on the spot.

"Jeez."

Acid Ace then jumped to another tree's foliage and looked into a small bedroom where there was someone sitting cross-legged on the ground.

This someone was a teen guy about Subaru and the others' height and maybe he was about their age too.

He wore _ninja_ wool clothes which were a balaclava with an opening on the rear, a wool black sweater, pants, socks and sandals.

His hair was brown and it jumped out from behind in a spiky and wild manner.

His eyes were closed.

There was a _katana_ sheath with a leather band on the ground in front of his feet too.

He currently seemed to be meditating.

"_Waree… Chii waa hoshii…_" A distorted voice rang out.

"You wanna blood? Go slaughter some cattle, Assassin."

A Denpa Body formed next to the guy.

It was reminiscent of a typical ghost, having a white body with no legs and a hood with a Halloween-like face carved on it emerged: its "eyes" shone with reddish light.

"_Ryoukaii_…"

"Huff."

"Alright… Shinobi seems to be doing some _yoga_ meditation and Assassin goes kill some cattle in the mountains… The shepherds must feel terrorized by now, I guess…"

"To me, my soldiers! Let us fight back these barbarians who dare to filthy Vienna!" Hyde laughed.

"Jeez. Hyde – sama could use another room further away, no? This mansion was designed for up to 10 people to live in and there are tons of unused rooms there and there." Shinobi grumbled.

Acid Ace focused on Hyde again as he sat on an armchair and drew his stick to move it like an orchestra conductor.

"Rise, dead spirits of ancestors! The Nation calls for you!"

"Huff. You're mixing fantasy _anime_ and operas now? Why don't you patent it, Hyde?" Phantom sarcastically suggested.

"No need to! Those plebeians would rather defile it!"

"Huff. Oh boy."

"Mwah, hah, hah! And soon enough I'll prepare something!"

"Oh?" Acid Ace looked intrigued.

"A terrific display! This will keep the fools who dare to step into MY grounds away! They will fear for their skinny hides!"

"Huff. Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure."

"Those seeded scoundrels will crawl before the descendant of Hyde's Manor in London!"

"Not that again! That was some sarcasm that Omega guy came up with in the Mu Continent when we were chasing that "Darkus Mors" guy a while ago…" Phantom complained.

"Admit reality, Phantom!"

"No, _you_ admit reality."

"Heh. Guess Omega's ploy was effective. It clouds his imagination."

"So it'd seem." Acid calmly replied.

"We know Hyde in person goes to buy the groceries since we never bothered to put up a "WANTED" notice… No need to by now: since we can check on them…"

"Indeed."

"Those seeded rascals that dared to step into Vienna's Opera House without their tuxedos!"

"Hyde… Do you think any invaders would care about the Opera House?"

"Those grand beanpoles!"

"Stop using old-fashioned wording like those "Anti" guys…"

"Hah! Those! Disgraced beginners, all of them!"

"Well. Guess I'll agree with the guy on that." Acid Ace chuckled.

"Shidou…" Acid grumbled.

"Those grand cowards!"

"Sure. They flee when things get awry."

"Those rogues! Those frogs!"

"Huff. I'm off to getting the latest news."

Phantom warped out and Hyde paid no heed as he kept on pacing around the living room: he drew his Hunter-VG and inputted some commands to form a large 3D setting of an Opera House where an orchestra awaited his commands.

"Go!"

He began to randomly move the stick as if it was a baton and the orchestra began to play in a random and chaotic manner without any sense of coordination but it seemed like Hyde was so absorbed on it that he didn't realize.

"Heh. He's got a LONG WAY to learn." Acid Ace chuckled.

"Shidou… Shouldn't we go back already and examine Ox Fire's battle data to spot anything?"

"Yeah. I'll insert hidden spontaneous images of pizza and ginger beef when I send it to Gonta." He laughed under his breath.

"Very funny."

"Grand full of soup! Mwah, hah, hah! I'm a genius!" Hyde laughed.

"Sure, sure…"

"Shinobi!"

"Huh! C-coming, my Lord!"

Shinobi quickly got to his feet and rushed over to Hyde: he bowed and Hyde looked eager and in a good mood.

"Give me an idea!"

"Eh… Smash those interlopers?"

"True! We need to smash those interlopers! They're in the way! Of my rise to Orchestra Conductor!"

"HUH? W-well, y-yeah…" Shinobi looked taken aback.

"Alright! Hunt them down!"

"Assassin!"

"_Waree waa kokoo nii arii_…"

"Yeah, I know… You're here, alright. Denpa – Henkan!"

Shinobi performed "Denpa-Henkan" with Assassin and gained a purple cape hanging from behind his shoulders and two metallic _shuriken_ on his shoulders and knees.

It was clear by now that his eyes' irises were red.

He rushed over to his room and picked the _katana_ sheath: it was painted purple and black while being decorated with four black dots around it.

"Good, my disciple, good! Go chase those grotesque buffoons!"

"G-grotesque buffoons…? Guess that… I'll never get used to those weird words…" He muttered to his own.

"Hmmm? Were you saying something?"

"N-no, my Lord! I shall go!"

He warped out and into a Wave Road circling the manor: he selected NE and disappeared in that direction while Hyde laughed.

"Soon! Those interlopers will be gone! And I shall become Vienna's Opera House Major Grand Magnificent Elegant Conductor: Hyde Austrius!" He laughed.

"I guess that surname is a pun on Austria, anyway… I've seen and heard enough so let's go back. And try to keep Queen Tia under check."

"If we can, that is." Acid sighed in defeat.

_Jeez. As if we didn't have enough trouble around… What a headache!_


	6. Chapter 6: Interlopers

**Chapter 6: Interlopers**

13:13 PM (Japan Time), Friday September the 21st…

"… OK… What's the deal now, Queen Tia?"

"Where are my belongings?"

"I confiscated them. Dr. Yoiri approved of it."

"Is that so?"

"Of course! Else you'll terrify Misora to the point of her not wanting to set a foot here anymore!"

"So you're protecting her."

"Isn't it natural? We're companions of the "Raid Troop" along with Gonta and Subaru!"

"So you want her future husband to not find someone stepped ahead of him, so as to speak, Akatsuki."

"Future husband…? Now who's the one who's seen too many soap operas…?"

"Speculating without evidence leads to nowhere. Queen Tia."

"I knew it, Calculator."

"C-Calculator? Is that some irony?"

"More like her sarcasm."

Shidou was discussing with Queen Tia in a corner of the WAXA Japan Branch's main yard next to the large-scaled Wave Station which was unpowered: Queen Tia had folded her arms and today she looked in the mood to taunt Shidou and Acid by extension.

"Now, now! Queen Tia. What have we talked about? Do you pretend to play deaf? If you don't feel comfortable here, you can go seek another place to stay at. But terrorizing Satella Police members won't do." Dr. Yoiri sighed as she walked over to her.

"Ma'am. Your "advice" belongs to another generation. No offense."

"What was that? Oh! Come on! What a stubborn child you are!"

"I guess that. War changes people, hakase."

"I know your country suffered an invasion and you're the survivors of its Royal Family, but… There's no need to be so hostile to others: Misora – chan is a nice child and I don't want to have her suffer from a constant fear which may lead her to stress. Or do you have some reason why you need to scare her so much?" Dr. Yoiri demanded.

"Not really. I am warning. Those who warn aren't traitors."

"While warning is not a crime… You're more like bullying her."

"Ah. Is that so?"

"We've been VERY tolerant. Any other institution would've expelled you already and reported you." She warned.

"I knew it."

"So you admit you've been taking profit of our good faith?"

"… Could be." She calmly replied.

"Aha-hah! That won't do!"

"Who knows?"

"Trying to elude the topic? You've realized the consequences of it, haven't you, Queen Tia? Why don't you try to go back to your nation? It's managed to slowly rise again…"

"And then we will be invaded and the technology we have developed stolen so other countries can use it for greedy goals…"

"Be considerate. I spoke with Vadous about that time ago. He's already prepared a batch of "Noise" to be used to foil any attempt to mobilize military equipment for an invasion or raid." Shidou told her.

"Ah. So you spoke with the world's shadowy ruler."

"Wha~t? Vadous is just the head of the Sub Space! They're kind of an NGO to begin with! Look at how he brought down that tyrant "IQ" two years ago!" Shidou grumbled.

"I had forgotten."

"How _unlike_ you." Shidou fumed.

"Shidou. Don't ride on that tune or it'll escalate."

"I know!"

"No, you don't."

"I agree with Acid – chan. Cool it, Shidou – chan."

"Yeah, hakase…! And when will you quit the nicknames?"

"Well…" She trailed off.

"So, floating gyroscope… What do you suggest?"

"Me? I don't suggest anything… Or, rather… I'd suggest that you stop bothering Hibiki. We don't want her to run off and cut off contact with everyone out of accumulated stress and for her singer career to be compromised, do we?" Acid sighed.

"Maybe the raptor knows?"

"What "raptor"?" Acid didn't get the point.

"Or, rather… Party-pooper?"

"P-party… Pooper? Me?"

"Jeez. Quit it already, Queen Tia." Shidou grumbled.

"So? What is your strategy, Akatsuki?"

"Strategy? Regarding what? My "Anti"? Or do you mean something else to begin with?"

"Could be."

"Could be, could be… Yes or not?"

"That ravachol knows." She glared at Acid.

"Will please stop calling me names?" He sighed.

"Rhizopod: do not interfere."

"Interfere…? Aren't you the one addressing me to begin with?"

"Maybe I'm addressing this rocambole over here." She glared at Shidou next.

"Hakase…! Let's do SOMETHING already! Or else things will escalate and trouble will ensue! Trouble with Capital T!"

"Alright, what's with this ruckus?" The Chief asked as he walked over to them while looking agitated.

"Chief! Queen Tia is being stubborn and has been taking profit of our good faith. This has to END!" Shidou summed up.

"I knew it… Queen Tia! Maybe you need to go away for a while."

"Fine. I'll go to Shiisaa Island for a while."

"But that doesn't mean you're allowed to involve unrelated people into your "moods"!" Shidou warned.

Queen Tia played deaf and headed away: she stepped into the Wave Liner station and closed the door: the four of them sighed.

"We need some form of monitoring. I'll ask Dr. Lartes for a micro-robot to listen into her new house." Shidou suggested.

"You have my go-ahead. Queen Tia is dangerous to let loose. And under this context she could be approached by "Anti" Harp Note: given her knowledge about Queen Tia and her boasting…"

"Oh boy." Dr. Yoiri sighed.

"Trouble."

"Yeah. We need to contain it before it becomes worse."

"Totally."

"Bong!"

"Wha!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Sigma! When did you get here?"

"Right now… Didn't ya say ya needed a hand?"

"I? I didn't, man. War Rock's trolling you."

"The sacripant…! I'm gonna teach him yet!"

Sigma had suddenly appeared behind Shidou: but it turned out he'd been trolled so he ran for the Wave Station and used it to warp to the Wave Roads: Shidou drew a "Sweet Candy" and began to munch it up.

"Ah! I need it."

"Shidou. Mail. From "Acid Disaster"… In short: our "Anti"…"

"About time. Where's the place?"

"Kodama Elementary, Science Club Room, Butterfly Sample Cybernetics."

"That's the monitor that was displaying butterfly specimens, huh?"

"Correct."

"Fine. I'll go say bye and hi." He made up a joke.

"This isn't funny, Shidou."

"I agree with Acid. Be serious, Akatsuki – kun."

"Be careful, Shidou – chan and Acid – chan."

"Jeez. Alright, alright. Denpa – Henkan! Akatsuki Shidou, On Air!"

Shidou and Acid merged to become Acid Ace: he cocked his gun and got into the Wave Roads, and from there, he climbed until the warp point to the Japan Cosmo Wave.

"Alright, my skinny wannabe… Let's see what stuff ya are made of…"

13:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Alright. What are you made of, air? I don't see you."

"I don't pick any radar signatures. I tried IR and X-Ray too."

"Maybe they're waiting outside of your radar range."

"It's a possibility."

"Say. My Wing Vernier… It makes a noise when I turn it on to dash across the air outside battle mode?"

"Indeed."

"Do you know its frequency or dB?"

"About 40dB."

"Then search for sounds about 40dB: shut down audio output and turn on audio input. Then display to me the direction the sound comes from com: and, knowing the speed of sound, the distance."

"Roger. Leave it up to me."

Acid Ace reached the agreed spot but didn't spot anyone: he began to talk with Acid in a hushed tone and then remained silent while standing on that position: a 3D arrow colored green signaled him coming from the NE: it turned yellow and then red and it then began to intermittently flash as if to indicate the proximity: Acid Ace quickly drew his Long Sword and aimed it on that direction: the arrow flashing turned quicker until it became a red "!" symbol: Acid Ace quickly swung the sword there.

CLANG!

"Gotcha, Mr. Thinner Than Air."

"Wha~t?" A voice rang out.

"Stealth camouflage, eh? You're one sneaky pirate."

"Pirate! The great me? Damn you!"

"How about you show me your technique, Mr. Gray?"

"Shit! Like Hell! I'll win with one sneak attack! Hah!"

The opponent apparently jumped backwards given how the 3D display switched to the arrow but it was still red and flashing so he surely wasn't too far away: it began to tilt towards the left and then assumed a 50º angle to indicate that the opponent was hovering into the air: Acid Ace calmly removed the safety of his Acid Blaster and discreetly spun it by the frame until it was aiming on the desired angle: he kept on looking forward in purpose to lure his enemy into attacking him: the arrow began to flash very quickly and immediately became the "!" symbol but Acid Ace simply shot a Giza Wheel X followed by some shots of the gun: there was a sound, the Giza Wheel X bounced off, a THUD rang out followed by a groan and the bullets hit the invisible opponent: Acid Ace then loaded up an attack.

"Omega Laser!"

The two twin lasers he shot from his shoulders pierced the invisibility of his opponent and he groaned: Acid Ace then got into another stance and his Vernier began to whine.

"Wing Blade~!"

He rammed into the opponent who was hit and propelled sideways to roll across the ground: the opponent groaned and barely managed to stand on his fours.

"Well, well, well. Let devil bite me. You were thicker than rock!" He taunted him with a grin.

"Damn you~…! You vagabond!"

"Don't tell me. It happens that Acid can help me out. Something which an imitator which is just a copy of Acid in form but installed with an AI program to emulate me won't get…"

"Che! Wide Wave X!"

"I've got some medicine for you. Mad Vulcan X!"

"I'm not over yet! Long Sword!"

"Anti" Acid Ace locked on the real one and tried to hit him but he brought up a Super Barrier Battle Card and got repelled: the "Anti" got invisible again and the arrow switched to a radar display: a dot showed up right behind Acid Ace so he simply stepped to the right as the imposter tried to use the Wing Blade but shot past him and an explosion happened at his feet which obviously sent him flying and hitting the ground.

"Giga Mine. I edited it to be a real mine instead of a trap for users of Giga-Class Battle Cards."

"Damn this punk!"

"Welcome to the club, my fellow."

"Galaxy Advance! White Meteor, Silver Meteor, Break Saber! Sirius GA!"

"Oho. Scary, scary~…"

Sirius formed in the field and began to shoot his Satellite Laser to pierce across the field: it hit Acid Ace twice but since it didn't amount to 5 hits then it didn't overload his Super Barrier.

"My turn. Galaxy Advance! Rolling Nuts 2, Rolling Nuts 2, Wood Slash! Strong Swing GA!"

Club Strong formed on the field and seemed to know where the imposter was at despite his invisible state: he began to bring down his club while hitting different spots of the field a total of 10 times: the imposter groaned and the arrow turned yellow to indicate his distance.

"Shit. I'm being PAWNED! By these vermicelli!"

"Welcome to the PWNGE Club!"

"T-this OLD JOKER!"

"Tell that to Joker."

"T-these VIVISECTIONISTS!"

"How cultured of ya~…"

"Galaxy Advance!"

"Oho."

"Snow Storm! Snow Storm! Hammer Weapon 3! B Ice Hammer!"

Dia Iceburn showed up and hit Acid Ace with her hammer but it didn't overload the Super Barrier either.

"This volatile misfortune!"

"That volatile girlfriend "Anti" Rock Man has…"

"More like mistress!" He grumbled.

"Heh. I knew it. You're too ugly."

"Ugly~? Me~? Damn you~!"

"Here's a gift from a girl! Galaxy Advance! Grass Stage! Mu Technology 3! Mu Technology 3! Gorgon Eye GA!"

"Gura~h!"

"And it pierces Invisible State, too."

The "Anti" was revealed and he drew a Muramasa Blade: he roared and jumped but, as always, forgot about the Super Barrier, and his attack did nothing at all.

"Shirahadori!"

Acid Ace struck him twice with his Long Sword and the guy groaned as he stepped back, panting.

"Damn! And there went "Anti" CW and said it'd be an easy win!" The guy grumbled under his breath.

"The guy had no idea of how I analyze the battlefield."

"Damn this jerk!"

"There's a foul wind blowing today."

"Are you LISTENING to me?"

"Maybe yes maybe not. Mr. Thinner Than Rock."

"Gra~h! Wing Blade~!"

"Galaxy Advance! Death Scythe 2! 3 of them! Burai Break GA!"

Burai formed and drew his Laplace Blade: he jumped and hit the floor with it causing a shockwave and a plume of purple energy on the center where he hit the ground: "Anti" Acid Ace panted and looked like he could barely remain on his feet for much longer.

"The finishing GA! Daba Flame 3! 3 of them! Pain Hell Flame!"

Jack Corvus appeared next and formed purplish flames on his hands before starting to bombard in the 3 deepest columns: some landed on the imposter and he struggled to move and dodge but got hit by others: a total of 12 rained down on the field.

"Shit. I got my arse kicked over and over again! I'll go teach that smug _Swan Lake_ wannabe jerk some things! Farewell!"

He disappeared with a flash and Acid Ace cocked his gun while grinning: Acid sighed.

"Heh! Not bad. It was worth some heating up. This guy makes up 9 out of 13. I guess Burai's next and then the 3 Musketeers."

"It's logical. I was about to say we were forgetting some others Denpa – Henkan users… Crown Thunder, Cancer Bubble and Goat Kung-Fu." Acid listed.

"Oh yeah. But since they were "secondary" then that Twilight sunnuva must've thought of the others. Yet… I find it odd he went for Mode and Pedia… He could've picked one Crown Thunder and Goat Kung-Fu."

"True. Maybe he couldn't find enough data to replicate them and was in a rush to start this up."

"Could be, yeah… Alright. I'm going to ask Dr. Lartes for the micro-robot so we can keep tabs on Queen Tia's behavior…"

"Wise idea. The sooner we set it up the better."

"Let's hope nothing bad happens, though…"

02:32 AM (Bermuda Time)…

"… Laplace, you MORON!"

"Ru!"

"Found you. Hand over the data."

"Yu…"

"Don't pretend! You stole the save data of my game! Here: I'll use this app Hoshikawa gave me. Spit it out!"

"Yu! Ra!"

"Hmpf… You better remember you're only here because you become my blade."

"Ru…"

"Mwah, hah, hah. This inanimate blade is better than that living one!"

"Hmmm? Ah. So you lowlife are one of those "Anti" Hoshikawa told me about the other day."

"Yeah! Next will be the 3 Anti Musketeers!"

"And I guess you lowlife are programmed to be "cocky" instead of my serious mood."

"I'm you punk's "Anti"!"

"Fine. Bring it on."

Burai had been quarreling with Laplace over his mania to steal his game data near the spot in the Bermuda Labyrinth where the Mu Content had been unsealed from: he retrieved it and then his "Anti" showed up there while wielding the blade Burai had used in the past: Burai was far from impressed and he merely signaled for Laplace to become his blade and get into fighting stance.

"Mwah, hah, hah! What Zapotecs!"

"I dunno what that means. It surely is outdated by now. Old-timer."

"WHA~T? OLD-TIMER? ME~?"

"Flying Knuckles! Rising Knuckles!"

"Ugah! Gruck!"

Burai shot his energy knuckles in a diagonal formation and the centermost one hit the opponent: Burai then lifted his right arm and three shockwaves travelled down each column: they hit the imposter, too.

"What the fuck happened to my Mu Rejection? What? "Uncompressing: 12% completed. Estimated time: 03:38."… No way!"

"Hmpf… So someone had to design it for you lowlife but it turns out it was compressed and you hadn't realized it…"

"Anti RM! The jerk! He's trying to discredit me!"

"Why? Did that Twilight fucker promise a power-up to the best out of you lowlifes?"

"Yeah! Noise Force Big Bangs and Finalize Attacks…!"

"I see."

"Grmblfj! I'll have to handle it somehow else… I know! Super Barrier!"

"Hmpf… Like that will help you neophyte survive…"

"Neophyte! I ain't a neophyte!"

"You are. Come out of the training halls but with zero battle experience and by that I mean _real_ battle experience."

"Che! Smart-mouth!"

"Queen Virgo X!"

Queen Virgo formed there and shot her Hydro Cannon at the "Anti" Burai: since he was close by he got hit several times, enough to overload the Super Barrier.

"Shit. Still 02:44…! What? And then I gotta go through an install _wizard_ as well? Fuck you, Anti RM!"

"Heh. Laplace Swing!" Burai grinned.

"Whack! This Zigomar!"

Burai shot the Laplace Blade and it travelled across the field twice in two directions but caught the guy standing in the middle both times before Burai warped and fell down while hitting the ground and causing a shockwave.

"Fuck you~! Still 02:02!"

"Come."

"Che! Eat sword!"

"Slow."

CLANG!

"Fuck."

The "Anti" Burai began to randomly swing the sword but got nowhere since Burai kept on moving and the Mu Rejection reflected the incoming attacks.

"T-this ZULU!"

"So what."

"So I'm gonna cut off your NECK!"

"I'm SO scared."

"T-this Papuan Carpathian!"

"Less talking. Fight me. Eat this. Burai Break!"

"Whack!"

Burai delivered another attack: the "Anti" Burai growled and looked at the Real Wave screen displaying the countdown.

"Another 01:28…! This talking parrot…!"

"That's more like you."

"You sand-flies!"

"Eat these!"

Burai warped at close-quarters and delivered two blows plus an uppercut to bring the guy to the ground.

"00:56…! And this is only uncompressing…! I dunno how much time the install _wizard_ needs!"

"Ask that genius programmer. And tell you lowlife's master that I'll make dust outta them. Nobody turns me into a puppet and then laughs at my pride." He dully announced.

"Hra~h! Eat this, you coarse!"

CLANG!

"Slow."

"Shit! 00:31!"

Burai suddenly turned around and began to walk away into the labyrinth: the "Anti" Burai growled and rushed in and began to use the speed lanes at random but soon got lost and began to wander until he found a Warp Point and ended up in the old floating hideout Dr. Orihime had used years ago.

"What the hell? Ah! Let's install this… OK! Now I can kick that guy's arse over and over again!" He muttered.

There was a sound and a gigantic blue-colored circle with figures drawn on it formed on his feet and he was suddenly trapped inside of a mass of ice: the real Burai dropped from above.

"Pegasus Magic GX. And, now… Gemini Thunder!"

"UGRA~H!"

The powerful attack combined with the fact that he was trapped into the mass of ice inflicted further damage: the imposter howled and dropped to his knees.

"DIE~!"

He began to deliver punches and kicks to Burai who didn't bother to block or repel them: Burai suddenly hit the right side of the imposter's face with a Poison Knuckle: the imposter began to lose balance and collapsed face-down on the ground.

"W-what's with that face…?"

"Hmpf. What a waste of my time."

"Time ya would rather use to fuck Hoshikawa, huh?"

"Hoshikawa's imitator got it wrong. I simply look on and the guy has to try to let it out. I incite him. That's all. There's no contact."

"Shit…!"

"Blame that imitator, you crybaby."

Burai walked off and barely bothered to glance over his right shoulder at how the guy vanished with the typical flash: he shrugged and stepped out into the main Labyrinth area.

"A total waste of my time, yeah… Let them slaughter each other and they'll do all of us a big favor."

"Ra… Yu…"

"What? You want to know what "S&M" means? Why do you?" Burai looked slightly surprised.

"Yu… Ra…"

"Some mail saying it's the best to take off stress? Rubbish. Now shut up and know that I haven't forgotten that of before."

"Yu…!"

Laplace shut up while Burai returned to his usual spot and found a pack of Viruses so he began to attack them to train.

"Let's resume my training."

18:18 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So, Tsukasa – kun… About to go off? Heh, heh."

"O~h… Please take more of it in, Tsukasa – kun…!"

"You do like his blowjobs, eh, Subaru – kun?"

"Yeah, Gino – kun…"

Subaru, Tsukasa and Kiboyama were having sex while being in the bed of a small bedroom somewhere.

This bedroom had the bed, three wooden chairs, a desk and a cupboard and the ceiling had a poster of Jawaii set there: a metallic door on the left was the exit and another to the right was the bathroom.

Subaru and Kiboyama were sitting on their knees while Tsukasa was on his fours: Tsukasa was sucking off Subaru's cock while Kiboyama had stuffed his into Tsukasa from behind and was rubbing Tsukasa's cock at the same time.

"Alright. Once this round ends I go middle." Kiboyama announced.

"OK. Then I go rear. Tsukasa – kun will handle the front?"

Tsukasa nodded and began to suck Subaru's cock faster: he moaned while Kiboyama also increased his pace.

"Heh, heh, heh… Here he goes!"

"Whoa!"

"Heh!"

Tsukasa released and the stains hit his torso and some fell into the sheets: Kiboayama released inside of him and Subaru gasped as he also released inside of his mouth: they panted and Tsukasa stepped back while swallowing the white fluid.

"Ah… Subaru – kun's penis feels so good…" He giggled.

"Please…" Subaru blushed.

"Heh, heh, heh. Subaru – kun doesn't like being praised."

"I knew that."

They changed their poses: Kiboyama got in the middle, Tsukasa in front of him and Subaru behind: Kiboyama began to suck Tsukasa's cock and Subaru began to pump it into his ass.

"Heh, heh, heh. It feels good, eh, Gino – kun? Wait a min: I'll provide some stimulation."

"But, really… Burai's "Anti" had been sabotaged by Subaru – kun's "Anti": talk about how they really are "Anti"…" Tsukasa commented as Kiboyama sucked his cock.

"Sure. They'll end up deleting each other and by the time we find out where they operate with we'll only have to deal with the villain and this time around they won't get away with it."

"That's the spirit."

"And I'm not worried about War Rock saying anything: I simply have to divert his attention elsewhere." Subaru shrugged.

"But, really… _Iinchou_ acts like a soap opera character: she keeps on treating you like Rock Man was another person altogether." Kiboyama stopped sucking Tsukasa's cock to join the chat.

"Well, yeah… It was somewhat… Hum… Embarrassing… I mean, she began to hug me and the Cybernetics got unstable so we got warped back to the real world…"

"Yeah… I don't really remember much of that day… My "Denpa-Henkan" form made my memory retention strength become weaker… Maybe it was a ploy by Hikaru so that, in the future, he'd do something which went over the line and fool me into believing I'd taken part into it…" Tsukasa added.

"And then he has you be indebted to him for helping you remain sane during that period a Choina gangster had abducted you and kept on torturing you and raping you… He was a ne'er-do-well!"

"In the sense of being a rogue and up to no good…"

"Let's resume." Subaru suggested.

"Alright. Sorry for stopping, Tsukasa – kun."

"Don't mind it, Gino – kun."

They resumed and Subaru began to rub his fingers on Kiboyama's cock head: he seemed to inwardly moan and Tsukasa looked ecstatic: he'd closed his eyes and seemed to have disconnected altogether.

"Alright, I think he's about to go off… Here goes nothing!"

"Whoa!"

Kiboyama went off and the earlier combo repeated: Subaru went off and Tsukasa went off, too, filling Kiboayama's mouth.

"How about the two in one…?" Subaru grinned.

"Who's gonna be the one?" Kiboyama asked.

"I'll be." Subaru volunteered.

"Alright." Tsukasa grinned.

Subaru sat on the bed: Tsukasa and Kiboyama got into place behind and in front of him: both stuffed their cocks into Subaru's ass and began to move: the group of three looked ecstatic.

"Ah… I missed this!" Subaru moaned.

"Heh, heh, heh… Well, well… Guess Tsukasa – kun's is a bit thicker than mine." Kiboyama giggled.

"Guess that, Gino – kun…"

"Heh, heh, heh."

Both Tsukasa and Kiboyama kept on pumping while Subaru began to rub his cock and rub his nipples with the left arm: Kiboyama and Tsukasa began to lick Subaru's shoulders from the front and the rear as well and their moans began to get louder.

"I'm going off!"

"Whoa!"

"Heh!"

Subaru went off and both guys also released: they sighed in relief and they took out their cocks: they then sat on their knees with Subaru picking their cocks with his hands and starting to take turns sucking them off: both groaned and began to look ecstatic.

"Ah…! Ah…! Coming…! Coming…!" Tsukasa moaned.

"I'm coming too…!"

Subaru grinned and began to rub them faster until they both released at the same time, staining his face: Subaru suddenly pulled their balls' skin and they gasped thus letting out a few more spurts.

"Oh…! How refreshing!" Kiboyama sighed.

"Subaru – kun is sneaky…!" Tsukasa giggled.

"Yeah. Sure am…" Subaru grinned.

"Let's get changed and get to our rooms…" Kiboyama muttered.

"Well. I'm on _my_ room already." Tsukasa reminded him.

"Sorry. Kinda forgot…"

"Good. I should go home soon. We know we'll have exams by the end of next month so I'd better dispatch the homework soon."

"Did you get any news from Nick – kun?" Kiboyama asked.

"Oh. He's living with his aunt and all. He made up to others who ask that he'd been afraid of coming back until he was approached by her."

"Well. I hope he can live free of worry." Tsukasa sighed.

"Yeah. I hope so, too."

"Oi! Guys! Have ya seen my sword?" Sigma called out from the outside.

"No, sir." They all replied.

"War Rock…! The jerk…! Sir Omega's in his serious mood switch so he won't get outta it 'till that bastard's dead… Get ready, you prank-loving lion wannabe!"

Sigma's heavy footsteps ran out and began to dwindle in loudness: the group began to dress back in their middle school uniforms and Tsukasa used a handkerchief to remove some of the stains in the sheet: he sighed in relief.

"Next Friday we'll do it on your room, Gino – kun."

"Sure thing!" He grinned.

"Let's see if you can beat my technique." Subaru challenged.

"That a challenge, Subaru – kun? Then I'm gonna go for it!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! I'm Hikaru's incarnation!" War Rock laughed from outside of the room.

"War Rock. You fail at scaring people." Subaru replied.

"War Rock! There! Found ya! Where's my _aibou_, huh?"

"Where else? In the Nightmare Continent Flower-yard!"

"He means the Dream Island Junk-yard." Tsukasa grumbled.

"Wha~t? Come back here, you!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Catch me, Goliath!"

"The HQ goes mad AGAIN." Kiboyama sighed.

"I know. At least Omega – san's on his serious mood switch and we should be thankful of that." Subaru slapped his forehead.

"What madness." Tsukasa rolled his eyes.

"See you around… And let's hope we can survive this maddening day!"

The group of three sighed in defeat and rolled their eyes…


	7. Chapter 7: Overseas Ruckuses

**Chapter 7: Overseas Ruckuses**

08:24 AM (Hong Kong Time), Sunday September the 23rd…

"…. Alright. I got a mail saying something was going on in Hong Kong's city center but I see nothing unless it's happening inside of some "Cybernetics" close by…"

"Nyah, hah, hah, hah…"

"What's that?"

"Ya worst nightmare, ya gorilla wannabe~… The reviewer!"

"Huh? Hah! So you're my own "Anti"."

"Surprised, King Kong descendant?"

"Tell that to some random monkey instead… Come at full power!"

"Flee at low power!"

"How funny."

Sigma had been patrolling the Wave Roads above Hong Kong's city center and seemingly looking for something when his "Anti" showed up behind him while laughing: Sigma didn't look amused at the poor attempt to imitate him this guy was displaying.

"Hrah! Destroy Sword!"

"How lame. Sigma Sword!"

Both clashed swords but the imposter's one began to crack around the mid-height portion and it split in two: the imposter gasped in disbelief and looked like he couldn't believe it.

"Anti AA! The damned rascal! "Indestructible sword"…! The fucker's trying to discredit me and get the glory!"

"Heh! Not like that Twilight son of a bitch would ever understand what "team-work" means… He'd rather have them kill each other!"

"Damn this guy!"

"Bite my shiny core~!"

Sigma ran off and the imposter chased him: he entered an advertising Real Wave projector's Cybernetics and the imposter followed him: Sigma then warped by bending the air and creating a shrinking circle which made him invisible: he appeared behind the imposter and rammed into him with the left shoulder: the imposter met the ground and got to his feet to try to hit Sigma with the punches but Sigma used his Sigma Sword to block.

"Ya can copy the looks but not like ya can copy the materials!"

"Wha~t?"

"Heh!"

"Damn ya! Demon Laser!"

The imposter's eyes glowed and shot two parallel lasers which travelled across the ground but bounced off some octagonal shield Sigma had and hit his own exposed core instead.

"What's with that shield?"

"Yer worst nightmare provides it! The reviewer!"

"Wha~t? Damn ya!"

"Mwah, hah, hah. Demon Laser!"

"Che!"

The imposter picked the lower half of the imitation sword and tried using it to block or bounce the lasers but they pierced through it and hit the waist area: the imposter flung the useless sword half at the real Sigma and it bounced off the shield to hit their nose: they growled and extended both hands forward to shoot some tall blue-colored rings the edges of which were frizzling with electricity: Sigma suddenly warped and appeared higher in the air to draw a circle with his Demon Lasers and form a circle of flames around the imposter: the "Anti" Sigma howled and jumped for the real one but he warped and he ended up crashing into the floor.

"Ya need to try harder, Mr. Anderson!" Sigma smugly taunted.

"Wha~t? Grrr! If that piece of super-hero wannabe hadn't sabotaged me, then… I'd already smashed you up a thousand times by now!"

"Oho. Scary, scary~…"

The imposter then made the knuckles glow with energy before starting to punch Sigma's shield: Sigma whistled a tune and began to hover some centimeters over the ground before warping and jumping down while aiming the blade forward: the hit made the imposter recoil and Sigma began to jump in a mad manner as he swung his sword up and down: the multiple blows made the imposter recoil further and didn't see something sparkling in the ground: he stepped over it and an explosion ensued, making him fall face-up on the ground.

"Fuck. Giga Mine!"

"Yessir."

"Damn it all! Eat this! Giga Card! Meteor G Laser!"

"Heh! Grave Joker X!"

Two Grave Jokers formed on the field: Sigma's one hit the floor and made 3 "Giant Buildings" rain down in a random pattern yet they ended up with one on the lower right, another in the middle left and the last in the upmost center: the imposter "Anti" Sigma's one charged up energy and shot a brutal blast of reddish energy but which was greatly dimmed by the Giant Buildings and Sigma's own shield: the "Anti" Sigma growled in exasperation.

"This can't be true!"

"It's true! Twilight sucks!"

"Don't call the _daimaou_ like that!"

"I'll call that jerk in whatever way I want! Eat this! Demon Rings!"

Sigma shot his rings but they spun upon their axis in the air so dodging them was harder for the imposter, who got hit by 3 of them and dodged just 2 of them: they growled.

"This is getting ridiculous."

"Blame the competency!"

"Grrr… Destroy Punch!"

"Weak."

The imposter tried to hit Sigma's shield but failed again: the real Sigma swung upon his axis and hit the imposter with the sword thus making him fall into the ground from the inertia the blow carried with it: Sigma then jumped down atop him and began to hit the head with the sword to cause some echoes to ring out and apparently to dizzy the opponent: Sigma then jumped away while the imposter got to his feet somehow.

"Vulcan Seed X!"

"Heh! Beast Swing X!"

A purple-colored War Rock formed and swung with his claws at the "Anti" Sigma thus leaving some scars on the chest and over the surface of the red core while the Vulcan Seed bounced off the shield.

"Grah! Is there no way to beat you?"

"Maybe. Ya need to use the head, Mr. Smith."

"I told you! I'm stronger than you!"

"Well. Prove it, then."

"Heel Wizard X!"

"Noised Wizard X!"

The Heel Wizard's electrical whip bounced off the shield and did nothing with the Noised Wizard did leave another scar across the upper chest of the "Anti" Sigma.

"Ya wanna blame someone, blame yer useless Boss."

"Wha~t?"

"I told ya: if the guy hadn't stirred in-fighting then…"

"I know! I'd be stronger! I'd be the ULTIMATE!"

"Heh! No way. Sir Omega is the ultimate."

"What! I thought the guy was a just a show-off!"

"Heh! Not done the homework, you have?"

"Che! Demon Stomp!"

The imposter jumped and landed down while stomping with the right foot: the barrier turned red as if to indicate it was reaching its limit and the imposter then punched it to shatter it like glass: Sigma, though, simply picked his sword with both hands and drove it through the imposter: the imposter howled and vanished with a flash.

"Heh! What weak armor."

"Sigma? Do you copy? This is Omega."

"Ah! Sir Omega, sir. I gave my imposter a run for it. Their sword was weak, they had no barrier and their armor was as thin as paper, sir. It'd seem "Anti" Acid Ace tricked them, too, sir." He reported.

"Hum. I see. So Blood should be next and I should be last in two days' time, I guess… Pull back to the HQ…"

"Roger!"

"Ah! And don't mind War Rock's taunts. If you play deaf then the guy will bore out of it and leave you alone." He added.

"Understood, sir!"

Sigma warped back into the Wave Roads and speeded away from the Hong Kong area to use a Warp Point into the Cosmo Wave where he navigated through until he found the Kodama Town Warp Point and headed for Subaru's house.

"Let's tell good ol' Subaru 'bout this… He'll be amused, I daresay!"

He chuckled under his breath as he saw Ox and War Rock starting another fight above the Wave Liner stand…

10:10 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Someone bothered to call me to Dealer's orbital station… And it has to be my own "Anti"…"

"Correct… I'm the ultimate assassin!"

"Tell that to Assassin Shinobi."

"What? I've got competency?"

"Of course. You didn't your homework. So my "Anti" is a mockery of me by having an assassin-like mindset."

"Yeah… I'll reap you lowlife's soul! The great I am invincible!"

Blood Shadow stepped into Dealer's orbital station and began to look around when a voice rang out: Blood Shadow wasn't surprised in the least and he simply began to scan the area.

"Mwah, hah, hah. I'm invisible to anything!"

"I wonder about that. Whoever designed your stealth camouflage didn't bother to tell you the greatest weakness it has."

"What? Damn it! Anti HN! That woman! It had to be a woman!"

"If she looks up to Anaya Maria then it's no wonder she's a trickster as well."

Blood Shadow loaded his double-barreled shotgun and warped to then reappear atop the gigantic screen which had, in the past, displayed Meteor G, but now it displayed empty space: he unloaded his shotgun and there was a yelp followed by a THUD sound and the sound of glass shattering: his imposter became visible and Blood Shadow drew a Sword Fighter X on his left forearm which he used to deliver 6 hits in a row to his opponent before stepping back and dodging a poorly aimed shot.

"IR. You can't hide from IR."

"Shit! That woman!"

"Shut up." Twilight's voice suddenly rang out.

"Huh! Twilight – sama!"

"It's part of my rules. Got any complains? Complain to ME."

"N-no, sir! No complains, sir!"

"Fight."

"R-roger, sir!"

"So. Twilight. About time you showed up."

"Hmpf! About time I reminded these idiots who's in charge."

"Your own petty strategy shoots back at you."

"Hah! Purges are useful to get rid of eyesores and keep the useful idiots on line and under control! It's happened across history!"

"I knew that. So, what can your pawn do?"

"This! Mega Shot!"

"How lame."

The imposter shot an attack from his own shotgun but Blood Shadow merely brought up the default shield to block it up: he then locked on the guy and delivered a hit from an Edogiri Blade X.

"Che! Mad Vulcan X!"

"Vulcan Seed X."

"Hell!"

Blood Shadow ignored the Mad Vulcan X rounds and the Vulcan Seed X rounds hit the imposter in a row: the imposter cursed under his breath and turned invisible again but Blood Shadow merely switched to IR vision and quickly spun around to shoot his already loaded shotgun at close-quarters into the enemy: the blow made the camouflage malfunction and he recoiled from the shooting: the imposter howled as he clutched the wound into his armor.

"Damned bitch!"

"Got a problem with my favorite?" Twilight challenged.

"Huh! N-no, sir!"

"Shut up. Fight. Or be deleted."

"R-roger, sir!"

"Hmpf… I thought as much…"

"Hmpf! The brat wants to play Holmes, huh?" Twilight taunted.

"Who knows, Demon Tribe Chief?"

"Degrading me! How dare you!"

"I dare, you cold-blooded psycho. Trying to destroy Earth with Crimson-loaded missiles… And sacrificing those four for you vain power… You lowlife would be better off dead and buried."

"Che! _Kyoudai_. The damned mouse!"

"Fight him if you ain't a bully and a coward."

"Coward! Me!"

"Of course. You tried to stage for a war of attrition on the Zenay III expedition but it didn't succeed."

"Che! Silence them, my pawn!"

"Roger! Dancing Blade X!"

"Spade Magnets X."

"Wha!"

Blood Shadow gracefully dodged both sweeps by the Dancing Blade X and then made Spade Magnets hit the opponent twice with his red and blue swords thus momentarily paralyzing them: Blood Shadow loaded his shotgun and warped in front of him.

"Charged shotgun shot."

"Gruah! Damn it! I want to be more powerful!"

"I doubt you'll be able to." Blood Shadow drily muttered.

"Wha~t?"

"You're but a pawn staged for this show. He'll dispose of you sooner or later, as he just said."

"Hmpf! Trying to loophole you lowlife's fate?"

"N-no, my Lord!"

"Fight!"

"Dia Iceburn X!"

"Oh?"

Dia Iceburn popped out and formed two streams of icy and snowy wind which froze the terrain on their wake but Blood Shadow predicted their direction and simply dodged before locking on the opponent and delivering another 6 slashes.

"Grah! Club Strong X!"

"Hum."

Club Strong formed and spawned three small cyclones which rushed towards Blood Shadow: he brought up the shield and blocked them and the Edogiri Blade X his opponent used in a row: Blood Shadow merely moved around and blocked another attack which was the Giza Wheel X the opponent tried using next.

"Is that all?"

"No! Damn it! Giga Card! Ox Tackle!"

"Wide Wave X."

The attack didn't stop Ox Fire's tackling but did hit the opponent and broke the bubble while Blood Shadow formed his default shield to block the tackle.

"Shit! How can this be?"

"It can be because I've got experience. Which you don't."

"Experience? What the hell?"

"Experience is the key to a battle."

"Hmpf! Power is all what matters! Brat!" Twilight shot back.

"Oh yeah? And when your power backfires then what?"

"Che! That was a cheap trick!"

"It wasn't. It was a clever strategy to teach you a lesson. Which you didn't get, from the looks of it."

"T-this KIDDO!"

"Che! I'll defeat you lowlife yet!"

"I don't think so, Mr. Pale Imitator. Cygnus Wing X!"

"Uack! Damn you! Phantom Black X!"

Cygnus Wing spun and hit the opponent once while the opponent had Phantom Black shoot his "Phantom Claw" at Blood Shadow but he just used his shield to block and then grinned.

"All Poison! Poison Storm!"

"Uagra~h!"

Blood Shadow used the Poison combo and the fan hit the opponent several times in a row: he lost balance and collapsed face-down on the ground, apparently defeated.

"Che. Retreat!"

The imposter vanished with a flash and Blood Shadow shrugged his shoulders as he walked outside of the place.

"Really. What a waste of time. Twilight's turned too impatient: well, since it makes work easier for us, then… Meh!"

_You'll soon be defeated! Twilight!_

17:17 PM (Japan Time)…

"… You bitch!"

"Oh my."

"You tricked me!"

"So what? _Daimaou_ – sama said so."

"Yeah. If you've got complains then go see His Grace. If you've got the GUTS for it."

"Shaddup, you super-hero wannabe!"

"Where's the Robocop wannabe! My sword!"

"Anti" Blood Shadow encountered "Anti" Harp Note and "Anti" Rock Man in a large metallic tunnel which had opened lock doors and a garage on the left side of the tunnel: he began to lash out at "Anti" HN and "Anti" RM challenged him: "Anti" BS growled while "Anti" Sigma ran past them and looking furious.

"You herd of pawns! Whoever tries to play smart doesn't live to tell it: this is the rule of the Demon Tribe!" Twilight's voice echoed through several speakers.

"Huh!" "Anti" BS gasped.

"Found ya!" "Anti" Sigma exclaimed from further in.

"Heck. Thought the guy had died by now…"

"That's a CONFESSION!"

"Hmpf! Let there be struggle and let the best survive!" Twilight scoffed over the speakers.

"If you don't hurry you'll lose your chance to beat the Robocop, too, lil shotgun." "Anti" HN sneered.

"What?"

"He messed with your Folder."

"What in the… All Battle Card values are halved? The Robocop! Oi! Anti Sigma! I've got a score with the fucker as well! Step asides!"

"Like Hell!"

"That fucking bastard…!"

"Anti" BS ran off and "Anti" HN signaled the lock door: it slid down the rails and closed while some locking sounds rang out.

"Alright. We've removed the needless noise."

"Sure thing… Twilight – sama made it clear he expects us two to remain alive and doesn't care how many left by the time the Subspace and company find us here…" "Anti" RM muttered.

"We're too much, even."

"In what sense?"

"Tee, heh, heh. Well. Who knows?"

"Huff. I'm off to submitting those guys' battle data."

"Alright. I'll check on the others… They must be battling fiercely by now, I guess… Survival of the fittest… Or should we say survival of the strongest instead? Tee, heh, heh."

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Anti" RM headed off while "Anti" HN stepped into the garage through a side-door and ignored 8 neatly parked hover-engine open-cockpit Jeeps there: she headed into a small work-station and interacted with the console to bring up footage of "Anti" CW and "Anti" Mode having a clash in another identical tunnel.

"Outta the way! The only sky-dancer is the great me~!" "Anti" Mode snapped at his opponent.

"No! I'm the greatest and grandest sky-dancer! Go back to your bankrupt circus, you clown!"

"YOU go back to your incinerated opera house, you old-timer!"

"Old-timer! Me! I'm beautiful!"

"Only in yer empty head!"

"Damn you~! Cygnus Dance!"

"Thousand Kick!"

"Anti" CW spun upon his axis and headed for "Anti" Mode and "Anti" Mode generated an imitation of Rock Man which began to deliver several kicks in a row.

"Tee, heh, heh. Enough. The two rivals…"

Another screen with footage revealed a cylindrical duty-heavy elevator shaft: "Anti" Storm and "Anti" Miles were fighting there in a rather ferocious manner.

"I'll electrocute you yet! You steal me the spotlight!"

"I'll pierce you yet! You steal me the screen-time~!"

"Blame Mr. Author!" She inwardly giggled.

"Zetsumetsu Meteor!"

"Doppel Mirror!"

"Anti" Storm made the meteors rain down while "Anti" Miles placed a mirror in front of the guy which began to lower his HP value: both growled and recovered.

"Break Count Bomb!"

"Wing Blade~!"

"Let's let them like that… Next!"

Another screen popped out and it displayed "Anti" Pedia having a fight with "Anti" OF in one of the garages with "Anti" OF picking the Jeeps and throwing them at "Anti" Pedia, who dodged them.

"You drunkard! Your invertebrate! You barbaric invasion! You Carnival Inca! You iconoclast!" "Anti" Pedia was snapping at the guy.

"Buruo~! You're but a bug! A bug to be squished by ME! Eat Jeep: die and make me a favor, you moron! Here goes nothing: Ox Jeep Tackle of Death!" "Anti" OF exclaimed.

"How original, bull - chan." She giggled.

"Young scamp! Young sassy! Loony! Liquorice!" "Anti" Pedia howled after he got hit by the Jeep.

"Hmpf! The carpet-seller bites?"

"C-carpet… Seller…? ME? Break Saber X!"

"Ugh! Fire Punch!"

"The slaughter season's opened." She giggled again.

She switched screens yet again and this time she spotted the fight between "Anti" AA, "Anti" BS and "Anti" Sigma each fighting each other by now.

"Demon Knuckles!"

"Daba Flame X!"

"Fuck you! Windy Attack X!"

"You rookie sailors! Die already!" "Anti" AA snapped at them.

"You megalomaniac! I'll give you sword! You'll eat it whole with pepper and BBQ sauce included!" "Anti" Sigma growled.

"Yum. Yummy." She laughed at her joke.

"You mercenary! I'll make pieces outta you lowlife yet!"

"You miserable lot!"

"You miserable ectoplasm!"

"You miserable iconoclast!"

"You gunner bib!"

"You peasant!"

"Enough."

She shut down all screens and then brought up another which showed "Anti" RM working in another work-station: she shrugged and began to flip screens: one showed some remains of simplistic brick houses built somewhere in a totally dead patch of rock and they included a round building with a partly collapsed dome: she suddenly spotted two figures stepping inside.

"What? Who were those? It can't be any of the "Anti" SS… Except for "Anti" RM all the others are fighting to death… It wasn't _daimaou_ – sama yet… Ah! Of course. "IQ" – sama and Mr. Secretary… Maybe he's doing a VIP tour for them after having rescued them in secret from the prison they were locked in… Of course, of course…"

She closed that feed too and opened an app: she brought up the virtual keyboard and typed a message.

"Watching _yaoi_?" She typed.

"Of course not!" "Anti" RM typed back.

"Then ya are watching bondage or BDSM?"

"I'm just reviewing the battle data! Remote log-in into my terminal if ya wanna! I know ya can fish up any records even if I delete them right now: leave me in peace! Or else my neck will lose its worth!"

"Nope. I want ya to sweat."

"Jeez. Go tuna."

"Go meet a smallpox sequel."

"I've had enough. I'm off!"

He cut the chat connection and "Anti" HN simply sighed in an amused tone and shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, well, well. Bad guys will be bad guys."

_Tee, heh, heh. Let's pit bad guy VS bad guy next… Tee, heh, heh._


	8. Chapter 8: Of swords

**Chapter 8: Of swords**

07:07 AM (Bermuda Time), Tuesday September the 25th…

"… Mwah, hah, hah… Well, Assassin?"

"… _Tsuyoii kehaii waa kanjiruu_…"

"Ya feel a strong signature, eh? Mwah, hah, hah."

"That's me!"

"Huh? Rock Man? No, wrong… That gray color palette… Ya are that so-famed "Anti", eh? I thought Omega's one was coming out."

"They'll come out when _daimaou _feels like it."

"And the reason ya bothered to drop by here… There's something ya wanna do in the Mu Continent… Retrieve the Dinosaur OOPart!"

"Che. I got read!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Well. Too bad, but… Rock Man took it back from Hyde – sama in the summer and Burai has it… I heard they'd excavated Berserk, too… So your only left choice is MY Shinobi OOPart…"

"What! You lowlife have it?"

Assassin Shinbobi had been zigzagging across the Bermuda Labyrinth when he stumbled upon "Anti" Rock Man in a square surrounded by the pinkish fog.

"Of course. That's why I use the name "Shinobi" to begin with… My old civilian name was boring. This is cooler… So… Let's see who's best at cutting necks, shall we, Mr. Smiles?"

"Smiles! I don't smile!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Who knows? Maybe you need to organize some petty gangster syndicate in Chicago?"

"W-wha~t?" "Anti" RM grumbled.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Let's go~… Curse of Poison!"

"What!"

Assassin materialized in front of his host and shot two purplish lasers which struck "Anti" RM's chest and formed the _kanji_ "doku" or "poison" on it: the symbol began to glow and some purple stains formed on the surface of "Anti" RM's body: they began to let out purplish bubbles which soon burst.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Ya lose 2 HP per second!"

"Heck. At least I set them to 1500, so… I'd take 750 seconds or 12 minutes 30 seconds to drain them… And I can end this fight in just 2 minutes!"

"Mwah, hah, hah… I wonder 'bout that… Dancing _Katana_!"

"What!"

Assassin Shinobi unsheathed his _katana_ and flung it forward as it began to spin upon its axis and copied the same movement pattern as the Dancing Blade Battle Card: Anti "RM got caught with the guard down and hit twice in a row.

"Oh, by the way... The HP value drop rate… It goes up by 1 every 5 minutes, you see…"

"W-WHAT?" He gasped.

"I've decided to totally remake my techniques by the time I need to face the Subspace or the Raid Troop again… Rock Man's Hyde – sama's prey but I'll take on that Acid Ace guy… Mwah, hah, hah… In the summer I did catch the guy off-guard with my _bunshin_ technique…"

"What? _Bunshin_ technique?"

"Oho. I won't say anythin' else or I'll spoil the surprise… Let's go!"

"Che! Mad Vulcan X! Attack Panel! 10 points bonus!"

"Mwah, hah, hah… Come, come…"

Assassin Shinobi let the rounds hit him and then he suddenly locked on "Anti" RM and delivered three attacks with the sword.

"Che! Impact Cannon!"

"Oho. Scary, scary~…"

The blow hit Assassin Shinobi and "Anti" RM seemed to be getting cocky and didn't see how the _katana_ was starting to glow: the purple patches spread.

"5 minutes have passed! 3 Hp per second! My attacks drained 600 off you and you'd lost 100, so… You have 1300 left, and at this rate… You can withstand about 7 minutes…"

"Fuck. Edogiri Blade X!"

"Anti" RM delivered another attack to Assassin Shinobi and his blade began to glow: he chuckled and "Antti" RM gasped as if he'd just realized that he'd stepped into a trap of some sort.

"Muramasa Katana!"

"Fuck! Ugrah!"

He delivered a blow to "Anti" RM which opened a wound on his body and he stepped back, growling.

"Mwah, hah, hah… About 800 left… And I've lost about 700 of my 1800 HP so no big deal… This thrill!" He laughed.

"What's this ruckus?"

"Hmpf… Burai, huh…"

"The coward's lapdog, huh? And that's Rock Man's imitator…"

"Che! Burai! Hey! That reminds me…! Where the hell is "Anti" Burai: the guy must've hidden somewhere else in the HQ…!"

Burai stepped there while looking annoyed and followed by Laplace: Assassin Shinobi wasn't surprised and "Anti" RM realized something.

"Not my problem."

"Che! _Daimaou_ – sama will SQUISH you like the BUG you are!"

"Hmpf. That's what'll happen to that bastard."

"Wha~t? Ugh!"

"Hah! Gotcha. 4 HP per second! And you've got about 500 left… You won't make it past another 2 minutes!"

"Hmpf… A poison technique which gradually increases the HP value drop rate and hi-powered attacks to give them ever lower survival time… No big deal…" Burai muttered once he spotted what it was about.

"No big deal, the jerk says…!" "Anti" RM growled.

"Tell that bastard to settle it with me."

"Hah! _Daimaou_ – sama has no time for the likes of you lowlifes!"

"Hmpf… Whatever… Won't be long until we locate you lowlifes' turf in whatever backwater planet you picked…"

"Heh, heh, heh… Only 150 left…"

"Damn it…! Muramasa Blade!"

"Come! Mwah, hah, hah."

The "Anti" Rock Man hit Assassin Shinobi with his own Muramasa Blade but fell short: he groaned and dropped to his knees, panting and trying to get to his feet again with effort.

"Still… 70 HP left…! I can destroy you…!"

"I doubt that, Mr. Smiles…"

"Giant… Axe!"

"Mwah, hah, hah!"

The attack did hit Assassin Shinobi but he remained on his feet while the imposter collapsed again.

"S-shit… I've wasted 15 seconds and I only have 10 HP left…! In less than 3 seconds…! But…! You should be at 0 from this blow… Unless… Under Shirt, damn them all…! Gruh…! No good… I hit 0! Gruah!"

"Hmpf… If ya didn't realize that earlier than ya suck at it…"

"You lowlife's turn. Hand over the OOPart." Burai drew the Laplace Blade and aimed it at him.

"Too bad. I'm busy… Curse of Blind!"

There was a flash followed by a yelp from "Anti" RM, another flash and, when they cleared, both were gone: Burai fumed and lowered the blade while turning and heading away.

"Mere idiots." He grumbled.

"Ra… Yu… Ru…"

"What? You picked off a "familiar" scent from that imitator?"

"Yu… Ra…"

"Fine. I'll bring it to Omega later. They might be able to process the data you say you've absorbed… How?"

"Ru… Yu…"

"Hmpf… So the fool made a cut to the imitator and robbed some data yet a piece of it fell from there… Alright…"

"Mwah, hah, hah. Yo. Burai. Did you want this?"

"What? No. Go away, Wizard."

War Rock suddenly showed up there and showed him a Polaroid of Subaru on his briefs shot from waist up: Burai ignored that and directed a hostile glare at War Rock.

"Fine. I'll give it to Shinobi, then."

"Whatever."

"Mwah, hah, hah!"

War Rock flew away while Burai scoffed.

"Damned idiots."

22:22 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hmpf… Someone bothered to summon me to the Crimson Machine Cybernetics 3, where that Mu device King had stolen was at… And it has to be my "Anti"…"

"Grrr… Grawl! Gruh!"

"Hmpf… A poor imitation of my "Dark Messiah" mode… It's edited to make it look like a literal lapdog… That damned Twilight and their mockery… I'll bury them yet. Come, you lapdog."

"Grrr! Gruwal!"

Omega had stepped into the deepest spot of the Crimson Machine Cybernetics 3 and stumbled upon his own "Anti" which had a purplish "aura" and they sounded and looked feral given how they were on their fours and growling: Omega drew his sword and wasn't surprised or impressed by the mockery.

"Grawl!"

The "Anti" Omega formed claws on the feet and hands and jumped for the real Omega who double jumped into the air and flipped so the "Anti" fell short and hit the floor: they quickly spun around and tried to go for it again but Omega had drawn a pistol which he loaded with white plasma: he shot a round at the "Anti" and it melted the right shoulder armor: they didn't mind that and tried to jump for Omega again but he shot another into the chest before kicking the forehead jewel and shattering it to find a small purple diamond with eight spokes emerging from the edges and transferring energy.

"Hmpf. That's the source of that "aura" which cancels the pain receptors: if I break that then the pain will soon overwhelm this thing and it'll be easier for me to beat it up." He muttered.

"Grrr… Grawl!"

Omega switched to the sword and flung it to have it hit the diamond and shatter it: the stems vanished and so did the "aura".

"Gurua~wl!"

"Starting to feel the burnt feeling?"

The "Anti" Omega growled and leapt for the real one but he simply swung the saber upwards and formed a neat vertical cut across their chest: the real Omega then spun upon his axis while using the left foot to support his body and delivered a kick into that area with the right foot thus making the feral thing hit the floor: Omega shot another plasma round at the left knee armor: the imitator wasn't halted by that and Omega simply flung his saber while predicting their next movement so as to hit the forehead cavity again: some short-circuit apparently happened because sparks flew off the cavity and the imitator's right arm and leg stopped working so they lost balance.

"Hmpf… The limb coordination section of the electronic brain got damaged… This thing is an android and not a Wizard. Twilight must've thought an android would be better equipped to match me but the bastard always forgets what "experience" means…"

"Garuwl!"

They suddenly regained mobility and their speed seemed to increase: Omega merely lifted the right eyebrow but, apart from that, he seemed to have been expecting such a reaction.

"So you can bite." He drily taunted.

"Gruwl!"

"Come."

The feral thing did come for Omega and suddenly formed two Giza Wheel X on their palms which they shot at Omega in a straight manner but Omega merely placed his gun horizontally and shot two plasma rounds to melt those and another to hit the neck armor of the incoming imitator: Omega then flung the saber and it cut off the neck from the body yet that didn't stop it.

"Some back-up program, huh?"

The headless android tried to hit Omega again but Omega's blade began to hum and he began to swing it at a maddening speed, faster than what the eye could see: each swing formed a clean cut and soon the robot was filled with multiple cuts: it broke down into several parts which collapsed into the floor.

"There. Now you can't move anymore."

"Not fair! You were supposed to have struggled more!" A voice rang out with some annoyance.

"I know that tune of voice. Anti Burai. Take me on if you've got the damned guts. Or if you're but a useless pawn then flee and fight the survivors." Omega taunted back.

"Nya~h! I'll prove it to those two that I'm better than them!"

"Anti" Burai dropped down while performing the "Burai Break" attack but Omega had merely sheathed his weapons and looked unaffected by the whole deal.

"So?"

"Shit."

"Go home."

"Who is gonna home empty-handed? Eat these!"

He shot the Laplace Blade imitation and had it sweep across the ground twice but Omega easily predicted and dodged those too: he then tried to deliver the punch and kick combo but Omega merely directed a glare which could kill at the guy who began to sweat.

"Flee."

"Che! I'm not gonna be intimidated by some glare!"

Omega suddenly swung his sword and formed a cut on the armor over the right hip: the guy hissed and stepped back, clutching it.

"This ain't gonna stop me! Hah!"

"Hmpf…"

Omega then shot a round of plasma which the imposter managed to deflect with the Laplace Blade imitation but at the cost of getting part of it melted: he growled and shot the ghostly knuckles at Omega who folded his arms and dodged them without having to sweat: Omega's glare seemed to portray a high level of annoyance.

"You're making me waste my time. Go back and be gone."

"Shut up!"

The imposter Burai lifted the right fist and formed the shockwaves, which, again, they weren't so hard to dodge.

"Grah! I'm the best!"

"That thing was supposed to be but it wasn't. Bring the head back to the bastard: maybe he'll exhibit as trophy." Omega icily replied.

"Che! I can't stand this jerk…!"

"Then go find another one you can stand. If there is one to begin with which I doubt there is." He snapped.

"T-this JERK!"

He began to deliver more attacks at a faster rate but Omega merely punched his shades and shattered them: he then kicked the stomach area to send them flying and hitting the floor, skidding across it and growling as they managed to stand up somehow.

"Fuck. I'll have to try harder, then!"

"Whatever you try is useless."

"I wonder about that! All Poison! Poison Storm!"

"Anti" Burai turned the whole Field into Poison Panels and then used the fan to suck them and shoot them at the opponent: Omega didn't lift an eyebrow even and looked like he hadn't been hit to begin with: "Anti" Burai was getting further annoyed.

"T-this MORON!"

"Had enough?"

"NO!"

"This will make you lowlife think otherwise."

Omega suddenly warped and delivered an uppercut to the jaw: the blow made "Anti" Burai fall into the floor: he rubbed his jaw and groaned from the pain.

"Shit. What a blow… I can barely move it…! I'm off!"

"At last."

"Omega?" Someone called out through the radio.

"Boss? Yeah. I dispatched the useless android and Burai's imitator: I'll bring back to the head for analysis. It might help us complete the coordinate data the real Burai brought us." Omega replied.

"Good. Where are you at, anyway?"

"The Crimson Machine, Crimson Factory…"

"Ah. Alright, alright. I'll be waiting in the bridge for the data."

"Rock! You stole my school shoes! Hand them back!" Kiboyama's voice echoed on the other end of the line.

"Rock! You stole my belt! Hand it back!" Tsukasa complained.

"Rock! You stole all Elec Cards from my Folder!"

"Rock! You stole my lance!"

"Hand back my _aibou_!"

"This guy…! Hand back my helmet!"

"By all the… Guess I need to come and settle that chaos." Omega grumbled.

"You really do… War Rock! The guy!"

23:12 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Huff! We cornered the guy and took everything back before locking him inside of the server. That should give him a lesson, Boss."

"Yeah. I know, Omega…"

Omega was standing inside of a small dome-shaped room.

The floor was a narrow steel corridor wide enough for one person to stand which was shaped like two trapezes connecting each other by a line: the ground was lowered and covered in a grid – like metal on the spaces between each trapeze and to left and right of the corridor: another room could be seen expanding downwards below this one through the metallic grid's openings.

There was a small circle which marked the start of a rail crossing across the room until the other end: he followed it with his sight and ended up spotting a black metallic armchair with the Alphabet letter "V" painted behind it on purple color placed at the end of the rail.

The other end of the room contained a console which was filled with several LEDs, indicators, switches, levers and buttons plus a built-in keyboard and mouse pad: three gigantic and interconnected LCD screens had been affixed to the wall to be above it.

The room's walls had several metallic stripes built into it which contained round LED lights: the centermost point of the room had a hatch built into the ceiling which was currently closed.

"So? What was in the data?"

Omega's interlocutor was sitting in the armchair: he looked like he was on his mid-twenties.

His eyes' irises were red and his hair was colored jet-black yet it was neatly combed and arranged: there wasn't the slightest trace of facial hair on him.

He wore body armor made of an unknown grayish compound material: some purple patterns were drawn around it.

He sported a ragged, torn and worn out purple cape attached to the back of his shoulders which spread all the way to the ground but had some centimeters' margin of space.

He lastly carried two elaborated sword sheaths attached to the thick central belt colored black running around his waist.

"The rest of the coordinates… Black Ace is analyzing them by now: the planet seems to be about 100 light-years from Earth in the NNW direction."

"Hum. If memory serves Zenay III was farther than that, right?" Omega frowned.

"Yeah… About… 130 light-years… And we already sent a probe to check it but there's only the wreckage of the facilities mostly buried by the sand dunes which have formed over this time…"

"Yeah… For a moment we thought that the guy was arrogant enough to use the same place twice but it wasn't the case…"

"Hum. Black Ace is set to scan a 5 light-year range between 95 and 100 light-years…"

"Yeah. There was some missing data which I couldn't savage: the circuitry was damaged in one spot."

"My bad. I felt so annoyed at the thing…"

"Don't worry. This will be enough. It might take the whole night to finish but we'll soon know the results. I guess that, by Saturday, we'll be able to move and strike it. We'll send reconnaissance probes to get an idea of the place."

"Good. Hmmm? There's a call coming in… Akatsuki… Hello?" Omega tapped the right side of his helmet.

"Hello there. Bad news, guys."

"What happened?"

"Queen Tia, see…"

"She escaped the surveillance?"

"No. "Anti" HN approached her and gave her a suitcase full of stuff and an address which turns out to be… You know… A women-only S&M club with a murky reputation…" He sighed.

"Lovely." Omega grumbled.

"I know. But, insofar, she's exploited a loophole because we didn't write down that she was forbidden to receive visits and we've not formalized the legal bureaucracy to justify the surveillance… So, in the paper, she can do whatever she wants because she's an adult citizen. I mean, she's 20 already so…" He explained next with obvious frustration.

"Huff. If only there was a more express way…"

"Yeah… There always seems to have been some grudge from the regular police towards us… Like we steal them the spotlight…"

"Just what we needed. So they're interfering with the process by trying to make it look like that you're jealous and that you don't want her to meet with some other guy?"

"Yeah. They're trying to rest credibility to me. I feel like Twilight has managed to influence there. Maybe some old influence channel Anaya had established… She's still in the jail and we did check it was the real one ourselves, so…"

"Well. That at least… I can handle looking there and there to see if I find that influence." Omega volunteered.

"You'd do us a great favor, really. Even Acid is at wit's end. He claims that he "can't process such inconsistent behavior"…"

"Which his way to say "those guys drive me mad"…" Vadous deduced while slapping his face in defeat.

"In essence."

"AN OMEN! The Choina cookie said I was going to be visited by an art dealer next week!" Utagai shrieked.

"Being visited by an art dealer is an omen? Ever since when?" Omega looked skeptical.

"Huff. Don't mind Utagai – san… He'd rather label all around him as omens to begin with…"

"Calm down!" Cygnus grumbled.

"Utagai – kun! Behave!" Amachi commanded.

"Y-y-y-yes, sir!"

"Let's go home. It's late! See you tomorrow."

"G-good evening."

"Jeez." Cygnus sighed.

"At last…!" Shidou sighed in relief.

"Hum. Black Ace returned results for planets in an orbit which more or less meets the NNW direction from Earth… But it's just the 95-96 light-year range… 5 candidates… But let's wait until we get all the data and then check it with libraries…"

"Yeah… The Tokyo Library has an important database…" Shidou suggested to them.

"Roger."

"My, my. Shidou – chan. Did you know that, in the 2180s…?"

"…Kan-Ke-Kon, the martial artist, was the rage…" He grumbled.

"Oh my. One's memory…"

"I saw a film of the guy and I always thought he seemed to be looking up to someone else who set the precedent…" Omega muttered while rubbing his chin.

"Could be… Another 2 light-years scanned… 3 new candidates…" Vadous announced.

"So we're pending the 99-100 light-years space…"

"Shidou."

"Did you manage to calm down, Acid?"

"The Chief and Yoiri – hakase purged some of my temp data: now my processor doesn't feel so loaded."

"That's good to hear… Anyway… Call me tomorrow when ya have the results while we boil our brains as to how to deal with Queen Tia: Misora did have that chip implant, right?"

"Yeah. I'll tell Lartes to contact her and ask for her permission to activate it to know her location 24/7… Just in case…"

"Good. I know she'll see through the "just to be safe" excuse but we don't want to stress her."

"No. And even less now… When we need to be ready to strike at their HQ…" Vadous sighed.

"That Queen Tia…! The war and invasion thing shocked her, alright, and must've witnessed something cruel… That might've seeded the idea that she needed to be in control… But if she's so stubbornly after Misora then it might've been a woman raping another woman… I'm sure Jack doesn't know anything…" He grumbled.

"Can't be helped… We need to make sure she doesn't go over the edge or trouble will ensue…" Omega fumed.

"Another 7 candidates… Huff. We got 15 candidates, and we'll need to scan them by sending probes…"

"Shoot them out and we'll have results by morning thanks to our "hyper-drive" tech…" Omega suggested.

"I know. Well, Akatsuki – kun… Try to rest properly."

"I know…! See ya…!"

"Lovely. We need to put an end to this campaign, and SOON."

"I know, Omega… Twilight! You won't escape this time around…!"


	9. Chapter 9: Hatred and grudge

**Chapter 9: Hatred and grudge**

15:15 PM (Japan Time), Thursday September the 27th…

"… Say, Harp…"

"Yeah, Misora?"

"That new staff girl… Didn't she give you a weird vibe?"

"Well… I dunno."

"Or am I over-reacting to the news of yesterday…?"

"Could be, too… What was that about, anyway?"

"Well… How to say it like…?"

Misora stepped into her room and looked concerned about something: Harp accompanied her as she locked the door and sat on the chair: she looked rather worried.

"Misora? It's me, Mamoru…" He knocked on the door.

"What's up, sir?"

"My bad, but there seems to be some trouble with the Special Stage Cybernetics… Could you check it out?"

"Alright. Let's go, Harp!"

"OK!"

"Denpa – Henkan! Hibiki Misora, On Air!"

Harp Note used the Wave Station in her room and travelled across the Wave Roads until she reached the Access Point for the Special Stage Cybernetics: she headed inside and began to walk down the road while noticing "Crimson" flying towards the depths.

"Weird. Some joke by War Rock?"

"Pororon! I don't think so: didn't Subaru say that he's still locked?"

"Then who…? Sigma? Yeah. It's gotta be the guy."

"By the way… What worried you before?"

"The news of my imitator visiting Queen Tia – sensei… I fear for my safety because they could try to harm me…"

"But why?"

"To have fun."

"Just to have fun? You humans sure are complicated creatures."

"You needn't tell me." She sighed.

She headed further in and stumbled with a wooden wall which had a caricature-like drawing of her there: she got a twitch over the right eye and kicked it into the floor to then head for the Warp Point and step into the next section.

"More Crimson… Or is it some prank by Sigma? Let's follow."

"Porororon! At least there's no longer the frozen ground and all that ice which Ox had to help thaw out."

"Yeah. Luckily enough…"

Harp Note made it to the deepest spot and found that someone had erected a wooden cross there with open restrains for the ankles and wrists: she gasped and some boulders suddenly dropped behind her cutting her escape route.

"So. Does my brother send his greetings?" A manly voice rang out with some sarcasm.

"That voice, that voice… That ain't Twilight…"

"No. But I am one of his pawns."

"You're not Anti Rock Man or Anti Burai or my skinny imitator."

"Correct."

"Some new pawn?"

"You could call me as such, yes. By the way: am I a joke?"

"What? If you are a joke… Joke…? JOKER?"

"Indeed."

Joker dropped down from above and landed on the ground while being on his "human" form: his arms were parallel to his main body and he looked rather uninterested.

"Twilight sent you."

"Correct."

"To delete me."

"Wrong."

"Lovely. I'd liked it better had it been the other way around."

"I guess I made it too obvious but since those were His commands…"

"Pororon! What does this mean, Misora?"

"That he wants to capture me."

"So that those two can harm you?" She gasped.

"In essence."

"Heh, heh. Good, Harp Note, good… It would seem you got some detective instinct, as Anti Harp Note named it…"

"That girl… They should look at the mirror…" She muttered with some sarcasm.

"I take it that you mean that they should realize they are not precisely a beauty." He rubbed his chin and looked slightly amused.

"And by "brother" you mean Acid. I heard the whole tale and I know he's your successor."

"Indeed. Sadly… I should have remembered about Clock Genius."

"The pervert."

"Excuse me?"

"He's a pervert. The guy time-froze me and kept me as a statue to stare into the whole time."

"Hum. I guess that's some trait he developed on his own."

"Yeah. You and the guy have some common points in that he began to develop too strong of a will, but, unlike ya, he wanted to toy with the Time-Space without minding the consequences. He could've erased our age and all, even."

"Hum. Then maybe it was for the best that he was bested." He didn't seem too surprised.

"Well. I hope you realize your mole won't be enough to catch me."

"Oh. True, true. His orders said I had to battle you as well to collect further battle data… He explicitly told me to capture you when your HP fall below the 5 HP mark." He smiled.

"Well. Come and prove ya aren't rusted like the Crimson Machine."

"Hum. Irony won't help you win, Harp Note… Heh, heh, heh… Access Meteor Server! Finalize! Grave Joker! WRUO~H!"

All of the Crimson began to flow into him as energy built up around his tall frame and there was a flash as he gained his Grave Joker form and articulated his hands.

"Hah!"

He punched the ground to begin with and dropped 3 Giant Buildings there in a random pattern: Harp Note dodged them and then brought up her shield to block the incoming swing: Grave Joker began to use his instant movement to move around.

"This guy has 2500 and I've got 1500… There's a pretty big gap but at least I know his moves." She muttered.

"Those buildings pack a lot of damage, right?"

"If I assume they're programmed at the same value as in the "X" version Battle Card then they inflict 350."

"Yikes."

"Heh, heh, heh. Feeling the despair, Harp Note?"

"More like feeling your boss' behavior."

"Hmpf… Get ready."

"Coming…!"

Grave Joker began to shoot down his array of missiles at Harp Note but she began to quickly shift rows and partly use the Giant Buildings as cover while also shooting a Mad Vulcan X as well: she managed to escape from the volley and Grave Joker seemed to lift his eyebrows under the bluish shades he wore.

"Hum… Change of plans… G Meteor Laser!"

"Coming! Sanctuary, Super Barrier!"

The brutal laser was shot and hit the Super Barrier several times in a row thus breaking it: the remaining hits got their power cut down so Harp Note survived them.

"15 per 5… 75! Phew! That thing's total output is 300."

"Hum. Maybe I got confident there… A calculation mistake… Well then, how about this instead? Break Count Bomb!"

"Heck. Aura!"

The gigantic bomb formed and went off: the explosion broke the Aura but at least Harp Note managed to escape unscratched.

"… My servant. Strategy change… Retrieve the decoration and come back ASAP… _Kyoudai_ found us… He's coming in Saturday… We need to strengthen the defenses… Move it!" Twilight hushed over the radio.

"Roger. You were fortunate, Harp Note. Farewell!"

"Phew! Close, TOO close…"

"Yeah… Saved by the bad guy… What an irony, huh?"

18: 18 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Who'd call me to the Noise Wave 6 linking the "Outer Space Wave Road" and the "FM Planet Wave Road", anyway? This is where I found the rebuilt Apollon Flame when I was trying to save the FM Planet from being swallowed by Sirius' Black Hole…"

"Yer number one fan!"

"Be glad Boss let you out because he believed I needed your strength for the upcoming battle."

"I know, Subari~!"

"Huff."

"… Hum. You came. You seem to be prepared, human."

"Huh? Who…?"

Rock Man made it to the deepest spot of the Noise Wave 6 while arguing with War Rock: he barely noticed how he stepped into a large puddle of water and that the sun was glowing here as if it was Earth: he stopped when seeing a figure giving him the back: he stopped dead on his tracks and assumed fighting stance.

"Contemplate. This shall become the last scenery to be engraved in your sight…"

This figure could be way over two meters tall and they had a curious look to them.

To begin with, most of their body skin was of a grayish color: their face also was and they had two red eyes with yellow irises plus a white "X" like scar on the forehead: their hair stretched backwards and seemed to be made of orange-like flames which were burning.

They had blackish scales over the arms and legs and the outer edges of the body.

They wore some kind of cape tied around the waist but leaving an opening in the front to see their legs.

They also had white nails on both the hands and the feet.

They wielded a blackish sword made of three diamonds fused together along with a hilt which had three black triangles forming a pyramid shape with a cavity in the middle set on it.

They looked imposing for some reason or another as they turned to face Rock Man.

"The eternal hatred towards the Gods' Tribe… The joy which comes with the release of my power… I shall discharge all of them into you."

"What? Why?"

"I wonder how much time you will last standing against me… Will you try to make it interesting?"

He suddenly swung the left arm and the "skies" got covered by brownish clouds while hiding the "Sun".

"The world shall now submit to my ruling! Those foolish herds which oppose me… Their tribes, their members… All of them shall be wiped out from this Land!" He exclaimed next.

"Submit to ruling…? No way! You're Twilight? You changed forms?"

"And when I possess the absolute power… When I possess the Meteor Server… The world's future shall be forever ruled by the Demon Tribe!"

He suddenly ran forward and hit Rock Man with the sword because he didn't see it coming: he then lifted him with the left hand with ease and threw him towards some invisible contention wall: Rock Man groaned and got back to his feet.

"Mad Vulcan X!"

Twilight merely placed the sword in the horizontal position to deflect all rounds from the gun back at Rock Man: he groaned and ran closer while having the Edogiri Blade X drawn but he easily blocked it up: War Rock materialized and tried to swing but got nowhere.

"Cool it, Rock!"

"Che!"

Twilight merely stepped back and then suddenly speeded forward to try to hit Rock Man with the sword but he was able to block it up with his default shield: Twilight backed up.

"He must be feeling pretty confident if he's not spoken!" War Rock grumbled.

"Or maybe it's a new strategy to make me feel nervous. As if I wasn't enough, hearing about Joker and all…"

"Grrr… This time around I'll mincemeat the guy!"

"Cool it or he'll smash us instead."

"Che!"

"Alright… Let's try something else… Impact Cannon!"

The blast got deflected at Rock Man again but he used his shield to deflect it back and thus it became a closed loop of bouncing until Twilight didn't synch his blade properly enough and got hit by the round: Rock Man rushed in and delivered a blow with a Break Saber X: Twilight grumbled and merely stepped back to then rush in but Rock Man managed to dodge and delivered a Giant Axe blow next.

"Alright. I'm starting to catch up with this guy's pattern."

"Catching Them All Guy~?"

"Oh. Gimme a break." He rolled his eyes.

"Hruh!"

"Huh! Coming!"

"Bust 'em!"

"Alright! Acid Ace X!"

Acid Ace locked on the opponent and delivered two hits with the Long Sword but Twilight didn't seem to mind those.

"Wruoh!"

He lifted the sword and the clouds became grayish: thunderbolts began to rain down from time to time and he lifted his sword to get it electrified: he shot an electrical attack at Rock Man and he clenched his teeth as he checked up his Folder.

"Giga Card! Wing Blade!"

Acid Ace formed again and shot some shots from his Acid Blaster before igniting his Vernier and shooting forward while leaving two parallel streams of fire on his wake: Twilight wasn't impressed by that and attacked Rock Man again.

"Recovery 300! Phew."

"Don't lower the guard, kid… This guy's tough… Hate to admit it…"

"I know."

"Gruah!"

More lightning fell down and he hit Rock Man with the sword thus electrocuting him: Rock Man stepped back and panted.

"Heck. More Noise jamming…? I don't care… Burai Break!"

Burai dropped down and hit Twilight with the blade while causing that shockwave around Twilight: he was still standing and Rock Man dodged the incoming attack.

"Die-hard, really…! Grrr… My blood's boiling!"

"It's an irony because you and Wolf don't have blood."

"I think that Juurou guy started the motto instead."

"Ah! Then it makes sense. Anyway… Plasma Gun X! Mahi Plus! Sword Fighter X!"

The combo proved to be highly damaging because Twilight howled and dropped the blade, which disintegrated into purple energy and flew away: the thunderbolts stopped raining down and he panted.

"Human! Having been able to overcome me… You are a strong human! Splendid. But, remember… This is not over…"

"I knew that."

"My hatred… The curse of the Demon Tribe… They shall go on reincarnating and forming until the end of Time Eternal."

"Che. Sounds like Sirius: it makes me remembers his talk about his power being transferred to another server which turned out to be the Black Hole Server itself and some residual data of his own hide…" War Rock grumbled.

"Do not forget it! It will be repeated! You people… You people who possess the blood of the hero and the white soul shall… forever be unable to escape from this curse!"

"Ya jerk… Quit the bad-mouthing already!" War Rock grumbled.

"This hatred and grudge… Its incarnations shall continue to wriggle and wander along with you lowlifes in a blood-stained "Dark Sea" forever!"

Twilight spread his arms wide and laughed as his body began to glow and it got deleted until nothing was left behind but Rock Man just sighed in relief as the weird scenery vanished, too.

"No way that that was the real one… It wasn't Twilight to begin with. It was a pawn, a red herring… A tool to collect further battle data."

"Grrr… The jerk!"

"Let's go meet Boss: he might have found out about their hideout by now for all we know." He suggested.

"By the way! Cepheus wants a photo of yer hair!"

"I doubt Cepheus being interested in that to begin with."

"Heh, heh, heh! Ya never know the fella!"

"I do know him. End of the tale. Let's go."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

18:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hi there. Boss."

"Ah. Subaru."

"Did we figure out their base?"

"Yeah. In fact… We'd been on that planet once."

"Really?"

"… Omicron."

"Omicron!"

"There's no mistaking it."

"Mwah, hah, hah. Then let's go bust that punk!"

"Rock. Shut up."

"Yeah. We're not going anywhere till Saturday."

"Wha~t?"

Subaru had come to talk with Vadous on the command bridge and he gasped when Vadous let out the news: War Rock materialized and Subaru grumbled.

"And the reason is… This."

He typed into the console and brought up satellite imagery displaying a gigantic ring of cylinders having AAC guns with two barrels each set atop and below them and circling the whole of the planet: it was about three quarters complete and some more were being materialized in live to fill the circle: a large spheroid having three white circles splitting in three horizontal parts and eight vertical stripes splitting it in eight sections floated above the planet with another below the planet: each spheroid had 24 opened hatches displaying 9 missiles ready to shoot inside of each making it a total of 216 per spheroid and 432 with the two of them.

"By all the… The jerk's serious!" War Rock gasped.

"Another reason we can't go yet. I've got to make some calculations to improve the energy bubble of the HQ and resist such a violent assault: I found another reserve fleet Tabuu had commissioned but didn't get to use so could I remotely pilot those and use them as _kamikaze_ to get rid of the orbital defenses… But I think the HQ will suffice…"

"Those turrets are Real Waves, right?" Subaru spotted.

"Correct. I'm trying to analyze their control signal and see if I could hijack it to turn them against themselves but I'm not being too optimistic on that part: the trick worked when we assaulted the planet Tabuu used as base because those turrets were designed by me but these must have some fail-safes. Twilight must've researched on that."

"And there seem to be about… 100 turrets… There are generators placed between each turret… But if each has four barrels… We'll be facing fire from 400 barrels." Subaru muttered.

"Correct. So, War Rock… Do you get it now?"

"Heck. 432 missiles and 400 barrels' fire… I'll shut my trap."

"That's the wisest thing you can do by now."

"Wha~t?"

"Hum. And that isn't all. The surface is riddled with turrets as well and there about 200 of them spread across the land and the seas. So we'd be facing fire from 800 barrels as we descend with the ships. Omega's working on them to tune the maneuver capability and their defenses."

"Heck."

"I found out he's placed about 1 billion Giga Mines hidden over the surface, too, and we'll need to be careful where we set our feet or we'll end up in trouble."

"1 billion Giga Mines?" War Rock's jaw hit the floor.

"Twilight ain't kidding this time around."

"Hell."

"So we'd need to re-use the hover packs but then there would be the trouble from the turrets because they can use the upper part, 400 barrels, to keep on shooting skywards and the other 400 to shoot at the surface while triggering the mines and turning that into an Inferno which makes Dante's one look pale in comparison." Subaru muttered with a hint of sarcasm.

"In essence. And even if we get into the corridors expect Noised Wizards and Heel Wizards en masse… Plus V3 Viruses… Thankfully only 3 "Anti" remain because the others killed themselves. Then there's Joker and the target."

"Hmmm… The 3 Musketeers could handle those, I guess Akatsuki – san will want to have a shot at Joker and then we could fight the guy ourselves, too… I guess Burai will want to intervene, too."

"That's what I'd thought. Regarding the mass defenders… I've begun to work with Yoiri – hakase to upgrade the "Copy Canceller" and set it to eliminate all of them in a sweep attack. We'll miniaturize it and everyone will have a copy capable of wiping a radius of 500 meters."

"Mwah, hah, hah! At last! Some good news! Grrr! My blood's boiling: let those skinny copies come at me! I'll smash them like the copies those Dealer jerks sent at me!"

"But I guess they'll be one-time programs, too. It demands way too much energy. It'll mean about 25% of your total HP."

"WHA?" War Rock gasped.

"You talk too early." Subaru scolded.

"Heck."

"A bull! There's a berserk bull!" Sigma's voice rang out.

"Sigma! Shut up!" Vadous grumbled.

"Yikes!"

"Go train with the Copy Canceller program and tune it!"

"R-roger, Boss…!"

"Move it!"

"Huff. Sigma – san…"

"There goes a silly big guy!" War Rock laughed.

"I heard that!" Sigma protested.

"Shut up, both of you!" Vadous exploded.

War Rock gulped and Subaru merely directed a dull glare at him: War Rock grumbled under his breath and looked elsewhere.

"I found that Twilight's set his command center in the Ground Zero, that cavern where Death Shadow's beast form was trapped in after it made planet-fall a decade ago…"

"Is the Omicron radiation still strong?"

"No. Ever since Death Shadow's demise, the ultrasound signal he emitted to the living cells on the Omicron itself has vanished, so most of it has died off and some has mutated into a stronger variety but it's mainly located in that shaft they used to climb to the surface."

"I see."

"Go home and rest, Subaru. We need to be fresh and ready. Tomorrow act like normal: don't neglect your studies."

"Roger, Boss."

"Go."

"Good evening."

Subaru stepped out while Vadous sighed and inputted some commands to establish communication with Shidou.

"As you heard, Akatsuki… Will you be able to be cool when facing Joker again or do we need Omega to do it instead?"

"We totally locked the Finalize "calling" so I guess it'll be OK…"

"Send me the data over: I might spot something you might have overlooked."

"OK."

"Let's not be reckless, Shidou."

"I know, Acid, I know…"

"Any news in the Queen Tia front?"

"No. We finally got the legal documents and the validation so she's now considered to be under surveillance because she's been contacted by an enemy party." Shidou sighed in relief.

"Alright. Let's make sure she doesn't move from there: this should only be necessary until Saturday. If those "Anti" are programmed to fight each other then I'm sure they also have bombs on them and Twilight would rather repeat that same scene of blowing them up and absorbing their data to grow stronger. No big deal."

"OK. By the way, should we leave Utagai – san here?"

"Yeah. The more defenders we leave here, the best. The guy might try to open two fronts at the same time to overwhelm us like Tabuu did time ago."

"Alright. I'll warn Gonta."

"Good. Tsukasa and Gino will remain onboard just in case Twilight also tries to send some boarding party but it'll most likely be mass-produced rubbish so…"

"Good. We'll be better off thinking of several scenarios and being ready to tackle them as they pop out." Acid agreed on that.

"Yeah. Better to not be caught with the pants down, anyway… See ya."

"Have a good rest."

Vadous finished the call and leant back on the chair, sighing.

_Saturday… All must be ready by Saturday… The decisive battle!_


	10. Chapter 10: Omicron Revisited

**Chapter 10: Omicron Revisited**

08:58 AM (Japan Time), Saturday September the 29th…

"… Real-space exit in 2 minutes…"

"Alright. Omega. Is all ready?"

"Yeah. We're on standby. The trick will be to use the EM pulses to make the generators go berserk and stop feeding the turrets."

"Good."

Omega was talking with Vadous over the radio as he sat in the pilot's seat inside of a small spacecraft docked in a huge room.

The spacecraft looked aerodynamic and was colored silver: the shuttle had a front Plexiglas view window and two short wings and tail but it didn't seem to have any visible means of propulsion: entrance was gained through an open hatch on the left side of the body.

Several seats resembling those of normal commercial planes were set inside of the cockpit: Subaru, Solo, Misora and Shidou were sitting in them by now.

"Good. Let's begin the checks… All green…"

The room's floor was just a giant platform suspended by steel columns on the borders.

The real floor, two meters below them, contained a set of fans which were currently stopped.

The whole room was about five or six meters tall and eight or ten meters wide.

There were two doorways placed on the edges of the platform which seemed to be locked down at the present.

"Real-space exit in 00:29… The bubble is up and running and to be on the safe side the opening will made on the underside, 500 meters from the lower end of the HQ… I can't risk a shot shooting straight inside."

"Of course. The Real Wave "chaff" is ready to be materialized and it'll help win some seconds for the HQ's energy cannons to lock on the targets and shoot at them… The missile planetoids go first. Each is about 1 km tall and 750 meters wide. They have a simplistic computer to receive ground commands and a power core for the orbital correction engines."

"00:11… Dump the atmosphere and get out."

"Roger."

Omega inputted some commands and the fans turned on to drain the atmosphere as energy fields formed over the doorways: the large hatch unlocked but Omega activated something to make the Plexiglas windshield blacken: the craft began to float outside of the docking bay and Omega made it descend.

"Sorry for blacking it but looking at the phenomenon of FTL travel can bring dizziness and nausea… It's only for a few seconds, anyway."

"Fine." Solo shrugged.

"Real-space transition!" Vadous announced.

There was a bright flash which was largely dimmed by the blackened window: Omega began to restore it to normal and they could see the shuttle was inside of a gigantic green-colored energy barrier which was already being bombarded by the orbital defenses of Planet Omicron, a planet about Mars' size and which had some landmasses and large oceans: it had a pale ghostly blue glow to it.

"Alright. Let's get to the hole and activate out bubble too: the lower turrets won't take long to zero on us and the same applies to the southern pole spheroid." Omega announced.

"Let's go Rambo style!" Shidou grinned.

"Shidou…" Acid grumbled.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah!" War Rock laughed.

"Shut up." Subaru grumbled.

"Let's go."

Omega activated another bubble colored blue around them before exiting through a hole beneath them which closed: the shuttle shot forward and began to bounce off the Inferno of rounds shot by the orbital defense guns: Omega pressed a button and several masses of orbital debris materialized and the guns began to shoot at them while the missiles (about two meters tall each) also hit them and exploded.

"Good. More!"

"More and more and MORE~!" War Rock laughed.

"Oh. Be quiet." Blood Shadow complained from inside the computer.

"This isn't a moment to be joking around." Sigma grumbled.

"Ra…"

"Laplace agrees." Solo folded his arms.

"Alright. Let's shoot the sticky mines at the generators thus depriving some of them of energy: the trick here is that the whole ring is set to spin along with the planet but its rotation speed is slower than Earth so it'd take over 30 hours to finish a whole rotation or day."

"I see. So Twilight intended for that to be deterrence instead actual fire-power…" Subaru guessed.

"Maybe he's relying further in the turrets floating in the atmosphere just a few kilometers over the surface." Omega suggested.

"That could be it, too."

The shuttle kept on flying and materialized some red spheroids having a circle with four trapeze suction pads on it set on the four cardinal directions: they attached to the generators (a black cube with several ventilation outlets) and began to blink.

"It takes 5 seconds to detonate. Let's make another sweep."

"Alright." Misora grinned.

"Pororon! Let's clear the road."

The mines began to detonate and some of the guns stopped working as the generators got taken out: when moving towards the left they did see a gigantic green energy bubble from which some greenish beams of energy shot out, hitting the center of each turret cylinder's and blowing them up in a soundless and smokeless explosion: another seven shot out while combining into one and then splitting to take out turrets and generators: the shuttle speeded forward while climbing over the Equator and heading for the spheroids: a gigantic red laser shot out of nowhere and Omega cursed as he violently flung the craft to the right.

"What the fuck!"

"An invisible spaceship?" Subaru wondered.

"Boss! Did you see THAT?"

"Weird. I did scan with IR 2 minutes ago and found nothing."

"Heck. This thing must've been in reserve or Twilight has brought it from somewhere else and just now ended the FTL travel! IR: on!"

A Real Wave screen formed and displayed an even greater spheroid which could be about 10 times bigger than the one they'd been heading for: it had countless round holes with red edges on them and had a black matrix over the surface.

"Fuck. 100 lasers in one face: that means a total of 400 lasers and this thing's rotation speed, given its size, is huge! It completes a whole turn-around in just 70 seconds! And these lasers can aim up and down too: we need to take it out! Laser for laser, Boss!" He growled.

"Leave it up to me. Focus on the remaining turrets and bring up more chaff: I need 60 seconds to divert all energy to the main gun and shoot it: the destructive power should be enough to blow that up: if not I'll try to ram into it with the barrier and see if the intense EM will fry up its circuitry…" Vadous replied.

"Fine. Hold on!"

Omega veered back and headed down to begin moving to the right while following the orbital ring: he deployed more chaff to make the guns be confused: Omega shot out more mines and some also adhered to the turrets to blow them up: he began to fly closer so that the lasers from the spheroid would hit the turrets' core and blow them up.

"Let's get rid of these and then we'll land."

"OK!"

"Another 15 seconds… Almost there!" Vadous reported.

"Good. We can stall for that."

Omega speeded up and kept on luring the laser spheroid to shoot at their side's turrets while circling the rear of the planet: a gigantic green laser then shot out from the bubble and split into nine which began to split into smaller lasers: these hit the guns inside of the opened hatches and began to blow them up as they bounced off: Omega speeded up and headed there because the spheroid got engrossed in trying to hit the bubble shield: each hole was wide enough for the shuttle to fit inside: Omega dropped some mines and blew up the engines before forming some torpedoes and flying away.

"They'll blow it from the inside."

In effect: the spheroid suddenly imploded and the explosion broke it into many pieces which began to de-orbit and fall towards the atmosphere: Omega maneuvered and got behind one.

"This will serve as shield from the atmosphere turrets: Boss will focus on those by moving the HQ closer."

"Good. About time." Solo calmly muttered.

"Twilight wasn't taking any chances, huh? I guess he'll put up some desperate struggle. We'll need our best."

"I want a piece of the fucker, too." Solo reminded them.

"Of course. Take as many as you want." Omega calmly replied.

"Fine."

"Let's go."

The craft began to dive into the atmosphere and, after crossing a layer of thick clouds, they saw the countless turrets floating over the surface of the planet which were busy shooting at the remains of the spheroid but it turned out they were too thick and the lasers bounced back at the source: Omega flew across the debris and spotted some smaller ones falling down from orbit, too.

"Aha. The north missile spheroid… The southern one will be next but its debris will fall into the southern areas…"

"Good… That lowlife's defenses are falling one after the other."

"Sure. Let's hurry to the human settlement and, from there, access the cavern. But maybe it's been sealed by now and we'll have to go through the tunnels… I dunno yet."

"We'll find out once we get there, anyway." Shidou shrugged.

"Hum? Transmission from the surface…? Well, well, well. Let devil bite me: it's Laser Man's Number One Fan."

"What? What does that mean, you?"

"Who knows, Mr. J?"

Joker happened to be the one transmitting to them and Omega simply came up with some sarcasm on the spot.

"Laser Man…? A "Darkloid" we didn't get to see?" Subaru wondered.

"Yeah. We found data about the guy and he looks like Grave Joker with the tubes and the trapeze head and the white slit instead of eyes."

"Hum! Don't compare me to some foolish pawn, you lowlifes."

"You want a piece of us? We're coming for you." Shidou taunted.

"Hmpf… Akatsuki… The other world wasn't comfortable enough for you, I take it." He taunted next.

"Sure. There were no "Sweet Candies"." Shidou dully replied.

"No logic as well." Acid added his own taunt.

"Hmpf… Whatever… Come and be decimated once more!"

The transmission got cut as Omega flew past the turrets and began to shoot lasers at the ground of the "human settlement", that group of houses along with that main building built in a valley close to a crudely designed brick-made covering for something: a forest could be spotted not too far from there and there also was a hill having a square made of tall concrete walls erected at the start of it.

"That square…!" Subaru muttered.

"Yeah… I know… We got pawned by Death Shadow there… Too bad we didn't get to beat the guy…" Shidou muttered.

"Hmpf…" Solo didn't let that impress him.

"Sure was a walking dreadnought…" Misora sighed.

"Totally." Blood Shadow muttered with a sigh.

"Huff. And need to have the head checked, too." Sigma muttered with some defeatism.

"Let's be positive." Omega told them.

"OK!" War Rock grinned.

The craft finally landed and Omega equalized pressure: they could see some craters formed by the lasers detonating the Giga Mines hidden there: the group climbed off and headed for the structure.

"Let's go! Denpa – Henkan!"

The Denpa – Henkan squad assumed their new forms as Blood Shadow and Sigma materialized: they began to attack the construct and it soon collapsed inwards and down a large shaft: they hit the bottom some seconds later.

"Good. This is it. Let's go down!"

"Let's go!"

They all dropped down the shaft and formed some Real Wave jetpacks to slow down their descent speed: they turned on portable flashlights next to check on the insides: the shaft was very irregular and looked like it'd been made in a natural way.

"So this is the shaft through which the meteor carrying Death Shadow's beat form dropped down… The meteor widened it from the hit and then began to bounce down the walls until it fell down… It's gotta be about 30 meters wide… That thing's legs were barely two meters long and the main body two or three meters… So the other shaft he used to escape, the one the excavation team built, had to be pretty narrow…" Rock Man deduced aloud.

They reached the end and entered a wide cavern: they could spot an elevator shaft some meters ahead consisting of four metallic beams and encircling segments of steel which allowed for the elevator to keep on descending: there also was a large hole close by which had a weird shape like that of a creature: there didn't seem to be anyone but they did spot a Real Wave screen displaying the status from the orbital and atmospheric weapons: 80% of them were non-functional by now.

"Che. Joker warned him and he'll have us find him across these gigantic tunnels made over 5 years ago. Let's hack into a work-station and use the camera feed." Omega grumbled.

"Yeah… Let's climb up into the truck garage." Rock Man sighed.

"Hmpf… Mere cowards, the lot of them…" Burai scoffed.

"It's some stupid and worthless trap, anyway." Harp Note shrugged.

"Sure thing… IR doesn't pick anything in a 50 meters radius." Acid Ace was scanning the surroundings.

"Mwah, hah, hah. IR and RI! Real Imagination!" Sigma laughed.

"Shaddup." Omega snapped at him.

"YIKES!"

"There we go again." Blood Shadow sighed.

They stepped into the elevator and ended up in a vast round room where some cargo trucks were parked at plus another three entrances which were unlocked: the central part had a round cargo elevator built into it which had descended down a shaft cut into live rock: this rock glowed with the bluish halo they'd seen earlier and the fog seemed to originate from the shaft: the room was devoid of life and the doorway to get in and out was wide open.

"The red carpet, huh?" Acid Ace guessed.

"There are some Jeeps over here." Harp Note called out.

"Like one year ago… Feels like it was forever ago." Burai muttered.

"Ra… Yu…"

"What? No. I'll drive. I don't trust your driving skills."

"Yu…"

They climbed into the Jeeps: Rock Man, Burai, Harp Note and Acid Ace picked on and the 3 Musketeers picked the other: they turned them on and began to travel up the tunnel: Viruses, Heel Wizards and Noised Wizards popped out.

"Let's not waste all "Copy Cancellers" at once. Let's use one when they block the way. The rest of your shoot default attacks." Omega instructed.

"Fine. Go, Laplace! Clear the road, you rubbish!"

"Outta the way! Grrr! My blood's boiling! Eat this! And this! And that!"

"Shock Note!"

"Wide Wave X!"

"Charged shotgun shot!"

"Demon Lasers!"

"Plasma Gun!"

The combined attacks blasted a lot of the enemies and the Jeeps drove through them: they heard an engine hum and they saw another Jeep starting to chase them: the remaining "Anti" members happened to be onboard: Omega spun the wheel of his Jeep.

"You keep on forward! We'll deal with these!"

"Come at full power!" Sigma taunted.

"Let's go." Blood Shadow calmly cocked the shotgun.

"Fine." Burai calmly replied.

"Let's go." Rock Man calmly rallied.

"Yeah. Yo! Flat – chan! You lose!" Harp Note taunted.

"That bitch!" The imposter snapped.

"Those jerks!" "Anti" RM growled.

"Those punks!" "Anti" Burai grumbled.

"Get a new hairstyle in Las Vegas!" Acid Ace laughed.

The first Jeep sped forward and crossed a doorway which was shut behind them: a garage some tens of meters ahead of them opened and a figure shrouded with a black tunic and hood and who could be about a meter and ninety tall drove off: this Jeep had a Heel Wizard operating a machinegun mounted on the rear and which began to shoot at them but Burai skillfully dodged.

"That height! It has to be Twilight!" Rock Man guessed.

"There they are!" Harp Note muttered.

"Hold into something." Burai warned.

"Heh. Some action!"

Burai speed up and began to move around to dodge until he was close to the forward Jeep with only about 10 meters splitting them: he flung the Laplace Blade and it deleted the Heel Wizard and broke the gun.

"There."

"_Kyoudai_~… Awaken!" Grave Joker's voice rang out.

"That trick's outdated. Better go see Mr. Hollywood!" Acid Ace taunted back with a grin.

Grave Joker materialized in front of them, about 8 meters north, and began to load his G Meteor Laser: Acid Ace jumped off the Jeep and landed with the feet first atop Grave Joker's shoulders: he shot one blank-range attack at the right shoulder and then signaled the floor: a Giga Mine formed beneath the right foot and exploded, thus making Grave Joker hit the floor face-up: Acid Ace landed atop him and began to shoot a Mad Vulcan.

"Go on ahead!" He called out.

"Roger!"

"Hmpf! So the pawn bites! Interesting!" Grave Joker taunted as he warped and stood up again.

A new doorway shut behind the group of three driving the Jeep and they spotted two curved doors slowly closing in front of them: the enemy's Jeep speeded to the max and made it through but their Jeep couldn't because the doors closed and they had to stop.

"Shit. The heavy-duty elevator… I remember that it took some minutes to go down or up." He grumbled.

"There should be some emergency use shaft in case you're trapped inside and you need to evacuate." Rock Man argued.

"Good point. Let's search for it. We might beat them to the higher level and pick another Jeep to ambush them." Harp Note suggested.

"Fine."

They climbed down and soon found a door with the banner "EMERGENCY STAIRCASE" there: they opened it and began to climb an ascending spiraling staircase.

"Why is everyone so fond of these? The Cyber World in that marine fortress thing and Tabuu's Tower had them." Rock Man muttered aloud with some annoyance.

"'Cause Staircase – chan wants to feel yer feet!"

"How rude!" Harp Note complained.

"Pororon! Guess that." Harp muttered.

"Hmpf…" Burai was unimpressed.

They reached the top and exited into a new corridor: they saw that the shaft doors were still locked so they rushed into a garage nearby and picked a new Jeep while pushing the other two to form a barricade and block the corridor.

"Good. But let's not get confident." Burai warned.

They heard a loud hum sound and the doors slowly opened: the Jeep shot forward and jumped over the barricade: Burai cursed and gave chase: they spotted that now it had two missile launchers built into it and two Noised Wizards were operating them.

"Grua~h!" They roared.

"Cleanse your teeth." Harp Note muttered with some sarcasm.

"Hmpf. Guess that." Burai looked slightly amused.

"With Rocky Toothpaste!" War Rock laughed.

"Oh. Shut up."

"Go, Laplace!"

Burai shot the Laplace Blade but it bounced off some kind of bubble shield and he picked it back: Rock Man drew an Impact Cannon and waited: a hole opened for the gun to shoot out and Rock Man shot faster: the blast blew up one of the missile launchers and deleted the Noised Wizard by extension as well.

"One down."

"Hmpf. They forget about the weakness of the shield: you need to loosen it up to shoot." Burai grinned.

"They didn't do the homework." Harp Note shrugged.

The chase continued and Rock Man shot out the second cannon: the Jeep suddenly braked and theirs couldn't stop on time so they hit the barrier and the Jeep whined before dropping into the ground: the enemy Jeep sped forward while Burai struggled to ignite it again: the Jeep whined and began to function again.

"Luckily they're designed to restart in a few seconds. That guy only triggered the emergency shutdown." Burai muttered.

"If we keep on this route we'll eventually reach the main entrance which is located close to that hill with the armored chamber inside of it: there's a landing which they could've used to land their shuttles. Maybe he's even parked one to flee the planet were things to go awry."

"We need to contact Vadous and warn him. But he should be suspicious if he sees a shuttle lift off and that Omega hasn't contacted him."

"He'll be eating donuts by now!" War Rock laughed.

"Yeah, yeah." Rock Man wasn't impressed.

"More like Dragon Hell's inventions." Harp Note sighed.

"Huff. You needn't tell me." Rock Man sighed as well.

"I saw those dishes and I understand that defeatism." Burai muttered as he rolled his eyes.

"The Dragon Despair Club!"

"Pororon! Be quiet, cha."

They soon spotted the vehicle again but this time around it had what looked like rail-guns installed: there were a total of five and these ones could interact with the shield to shoot out without opening it up: Rock Man, though, tossed a suction mine at the shield and got attached there before it began to tilt.

"There goes!"

The mine went off and overloaded the shield, the generator of which had been placed on the middle rear seat: it smoked and blew up so Burai flung the Laplace Blade and destroyed the weapons.

"Hah. That shield was weak." He scoffed.

"Of course: I'm sure he grabbed it in a rush." Harp Note wasn't surprised either.

"Anti Shield Hero!" War Rock laughed.

"Patent it and sell it to some RPG." Rock Man drily told him.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Bravo, Subari~!"

"Pororon! Cha keep the trap shut and do us a favor." Harp was getting annoyed by now.

"Wha~t?"

"I see sunlight further on ahead and a ramp. We're close." Burai called out to them.

In effect: the tunnel headed into a large ramp which climbed towards the surface and light came in through the opening: some hydraulic pistons had been placed to move it up and down.

"It's real. It's not a "Real Wave": they hadn't been invented yet."

"Hold into something. I'm going to push it."

"OK!"

Burai hit the speeding pedal and shot forward: the enemy Jeep had almost climbed the whole ramp and it was starting to lift but they managed to get in just in time and come out into the surface: this part of the planet had several hills scattered there and they could see some flashes and such in the evening sky.

"Vadous must be destroying the remainder of the defenses on the other side of the planet… Good…" Burai looked in a good mood.

"Target: 12 o'clock!" Rock Man called out.

"They're heading for that hill: there seems to be a garage inside and I can make out some viewing windows: maybe it's a control tower which controls the tunnels' entrances." Harp Note spotted.

"Fine."

"The shutter's closed." Rock Man warned.

"Shutters and whatever… Go, Laplace!"

Laplace shot forward as the Jeep climbed up the grayish rock hill and headed for the rocky peak climbing about 100 meters skywards: he hit the shutter and cut it into two horizontally: Harp Note spotted the figure rushing inside of an elevator and closing the doors.

"They're going up. Guess there must be something there: maybe Crimson or some tool to power-up." Harp Note suggested.

"Could be, yeah." Burai shrugged.

"No tools will save their hide." Rock Man icily muttered.

"That's what I wanted to hear." Burai looked animated.

"Ya… Ru…"

"He wants ya to cross-dress!" War Rock joked.

"How stupid." Burai growled.

"Totally!" Rock Man and Harp Note complained.

The Jeep reached the garage just as the elevator came down: they rushed inside and spotted that it only had two floors: ground floor and 1F so they headed upwards: the elevator pinged and they exited into a small unadorned hall: two large metallic doors were partly open in front of them.

"Ready? Let's go!" Rock Man rallied.

_You can't run away anymore! Twilight! Time to settle the score!_


	11. Chapter 11: Omicron's Second Battle

**Chapter 11: Omicron's Second Battle**

09:57 AM (Japan Time), Saturday September the 29th…

"… Stop right there, Twilight!"

"Cha time's over!"

"I'll make pieces outta you lowlife."

"Mwah, hah, hah. Let's go, Subari~!"

"Pororon! Don't get cocky, cha."

"Ya… Ru…"

"Hum. So you came, humans."

"Show your hide."

"Indeed!"

The opponent turned around when the three of them burst into the control room overseeing a large patch of the area and then tossed the cloak away.

Twilight wore a helmet with a mouth guard activated: his eyes' irises were visible and it could be seen that they were colored crimson red.

He had a chest emblem which consisted on just two shades of black and white split by a horizontal grey line: he had two curious shoulder pads which were shaped as two split halves of a diamond.

His main body's color was navy blue although the forearms and his boots were colored in purple.

A black smooth cape hung from the back of his shoulders and reached all the way to the floor as well as an add-on to his bodysuit.

"And now!"

He lifted the right arm and the ceiling opened by splitting into eight triangles: a Real Wave arena formed on their feet and it began to float upwards until it stopped on the top of the tower: it had no handrails.

"Mwah, hah, hah. You can already hope that your so-called "companions" will ever forgive you from the other side!"

"What?" Rock Man frowned.

"I've got masses of unlimited titans to bury them!"

"Unlimited titans?" Burai frowned.

"No way! Crimson Dragon, Ra Mu and Andromeda?"

"Correct! Infinite! At full power! They must be on the other side by now!"

"I wonder about that." Burai drily shot back.

"What?" He grumbled.

"We've got the Copy Canceller." He grinned.

"What the fuck is that?"

"As the name says: it cancels Noise-made copies… A WAXA weapon: and it can wipe off anything in 500 meters radius from the user…" Rock Man added.

"Impossible!"

"Not impossible at all. We predicted something like this could happen so we brought it along." Harp Note grinned.

"Fuck."

"Enough talk. Eat this! Dancing Blade X!"

"Hah! Dancing Blade X!"

Twilight formed the same attack aimed at Burai but he dodged yet he forgot about Rock Man and Harp Note who delivered the six-hit-combo of the Sword Fighter X from the flanks: he howled and drew the same cards to hit them but they formed Super Barriers and Sanctuary: Twilight managed to overload the Super Barriers but the only slash he could deliver got its power cut down: Burai landed there and attacked with his Burai Break attack, catching the guy with the guard down.

"T-these PESTS!"

"Hmpf." Burai grinned.

"Let's go! Mad Vulcan X!"

"Strong Swing X!"

Rock Man delivered several shots from his Mad Vulcan X and began to dodge the counter-attack: Harp Note had Club Strong deliver some hits with the club and then blocked or dodged the counter-attack.

"I see. He's got a program which can copy the Battle Cards we use and use them against us. It's the result of the "Anti" Battle Data gathering…"

"Whatever. Those won't help them win." Burai was unimpressed.

"Yeah. Let's bust this guy."

"Shaddup! I'm invincible!"

"I wonder about that." Rock Man drily countered.

"Grrr… Eat these! Beast Swing X!"

"Grah! Eat your own medicine, alien! Beast Swing X!"

War Rock had materialized and delivered a swing with the claws to Twilight before Twilight attempted to counter but Rock Man used the shield to block it up.

"Dia Iceburn X!"

"Break Saber X!"

"Flying Knuckles!"

"Grah! Eat counters, all of you!"

Twilight got attacked from the three flanks at the same time and he began to counter: Harp Note dodged both blizzards, Rock Man dodged the attack from the Break Saber and Burai used his Mu Rejection to block the counter Flying Knuckles, too: Twilight growled and shot out bolts of lightning from his fingers but which had no effect.

"I'm INVINCIBLE!"

"Shut up." Burai scoffed.

"No – one's invincible." Harp Note taunted back.

"Yeah. Not even your ego."

"Sirius X!"

"You know the drill." Rock Man told the others.

They brought up their shields to block the Satellite Laser as it swept across the field: the three of them got ready for another assault.

"Wolf Forest X!"

"Wing Blade!"

"Zetsumetsu Meteor!"

"Gura~h! Radius Blast!"

"Shields up!"

Twilight formed a circle of orange energy which spread in width but didn't get to hit the fighters.

"… Something's odd… This guy… They're acting in a stupid manner."

"Maybe he's just cocky." Rock Man replied.

"Sure thing…" Harp Note was sure of it.

"Hmpf… Then go down in disgrace, you fool…"

"Shaddup! Counter!"

"Useless."

They dodged or blocked the desperate counters and then they attacked with default attacks: Rock Man shot a Charge Shot, Harp Note shot her strings and Burai formed the shockwaves.

"Damned kids!"

"Did you really expect us to just get hit?" Rock Man taunted.

"You're nothing but an idiot." Burai scoffed.

"Yeah. Guess your "revival" had some side-effects and limited your own strategic capability." Harp Note guessed.

"T-this LIL GIRL!" He growled.

"No wonder."

"Apollon Flame!"

"Super Barrier: go!"

Twilight formed the Sun Flare above his right hand and flung it at the ground but the Super Barriers and the Mu Rejection protected them from the damage they would suffer.

"This is getting boring!" Twilight growled.

"It's your fault to begin with." Rock Man shot back.

"You thought you'd win easily but you underestimate us."

"Yeah. Out of the way. Hrah!"

Burai delivered his four-hit combo followed by the Burai Break and Twilight lost his balance as he stepped back from the blows: he roared and fell down from the arena but the group was already scanning the surroundings: Rock Man drew an Edogiri Blade X and blocked an attempt by an invisible figure to attack him with the same Battle Card: Harp Note and Burai weren't surprised, either.

"That's a _bunshin_. The real one was hoping to catch us with the guard lowered." Rock Man guessed.

"Yeah. They forget IR gives them away." Harp Note shrugged.

"A mere fool…"

"Wha~t?" Twilight became visible.

"You suck." War Rock laughed.

"Damn you!" He growled.

"Let's go! Atomic Blazer!"

"Dynamic Wave!"

"Meteor Light Barrage!"

"Mugra~h! You lowlifes weren't supposed to use those!"

"Yeah? And who says we can't? You?" Rock Man taunted back.

"Yer scenario is lame!" War Rock laughed.

"Meteor of Crimson! DIE~!"

"Hmpf. Useless, too."

"Yeah. We learnt the lesson a year ago."

A copy of Crimson Dragon formed and began to vomit torrents of "Crimson" at them but they shielded from the blows and suffered almost no damage at all: Twilight was making his whole body frizzle with electricity by now.

"Hra~h! Demon Thunder!"

"Aura."

The bolts of lightning which fell down drawing a parabola were nullified and Twilight formed two Sword Fighter X Battle Cards to attack Rock Man: he pierced the aura and delivered some blows but didn't spot the Sanctuary terrain which meant the damage was cut in half.

"That's all?" Rock Man taunted.

"I'll cut off your NECK!"

"I thought your big boss wanted me in one piece." Rock Man reminded him.

"Huh!" He grumbled.

"Got complains? Complain to the big boss."

"Shaddup! Don't mess with IQ – sama!"

"No. We'll mess with you." Burai shot back.

"Obey me, puppet!"

"I'm no longer you lowlife's puppet. I've come to pay back the chagrin."

"At last! Communications work! How's everything there?" Vadous called out through Rock Man's radio.

"Boss? We're facing Twilight. No problem."

"Good. I got into contact with the others. The "Anti" guys are done for and so is Grave Joker. The four of them are going to converge in your position but will take a while to. And all orbital defenses are orbital debris by now, too. I found a control signal for the Giga Mines and I'm going to fool them into self-destructing. Don't be surprised if there's an incredible amount of simultaneous explosions." He explained.

"_Kyoudai_! Damn you!"

"Yeah? Go to Hell, Twilight. And do us a favor."

"Shaddup! Once I liquidate these pests you lowlife are next!"

"Oh? Screwing up big boss' orders?" Harp Note taunted.

"Che! They tricked me!"

"No, you're the one who talks without realizing the consequences of your words." Rock Man corrected.

"You're supposed to agonize!"

"Supposed, supposed… Reality says otherwise." Burai grumbled.

"How about this! Darkness Hole! Huh? It didn't activate!"

"Did you bother to read the description? We're "Boss" class opponents and this Card only works when our HP is below 500. And none of us have gone that down yet." Harp Note told him.

"Useless trash!"

"You're the useless trash." Burai taunted.

He delivered two swings with the Laplace Blade and then jumped and fell down while hitting the guy again: he fell off but Harp Note quickly attacked the air to shatter another camouflage device and reveal a third Twilight.

"More _bunshins_? They won't save your hide. Or, rather… No, they're not _bunshins_… You project an image of you falling and warp back here while turning invisible." Rock Man realized.

"Hmpf… Relying on petty tricks… You don't know how a battle is fought to begin with." Burai scoffed.

"I'm a genius! Only I could design such perfect "Anti" enemies!"

"Perfect? They sucked. And 9 of them killed amongst themselves."

"Survival of the fittest!"

"Not like the remaining 3 were much fitting either." Vadous muttered.

"Wha~t? The defenses were supposed to have blown you up!"

"There we go again! Supposed, supposed… Reality says otherwise: what part of it you don't get?" Harp Note was exasperated by now.

"Guess none of it." Harp muttered.

"Hmpf… You seem to be like Ganon, a fictitious _daimaou_ who went on reincarnating and reviving by magic but as the ages passed he began to lose memories and intelligence and eventually kept a very primitive-level intelligence…" Vadous taunted.

"WHAT? DAMN YOU, KYOUDAI~!"

"See. That's all the proof I needed."

"Hmpf. How fitting." Burai made a smug grin.

"Totally."

"Absolutely."

"The only thing missing is your pig-beast form."

"Pig-beast form? Me?" He growled.

"Double fitting." Burai got amused.

"Alright! Sword Fighter X!"

Rock Man delivered six hits and managed to raise the Noise Level to become Burai Noise: he drew the Laplace Blade and delivered two swings while imitating the Burai Break: Twilight groaned and formed a whip of electricity like that of a Heel Wizard which he flung at Rock Man but he ducked and hit the knees next.

"Damn it!"

"There's more! Giant Axe! And now all Sword-Type Battle Cards get a power boost! Eat this, ugly!"

"Grah! Eat it back, you pest!"

"Mu Rejection!"

"Fuck!"

"Give it up." Vadous taunted.

"Shaddup! I'll blow you out of your bird's nest yet!"

"I'm highly skeptical."

"No wonder." Dr. Lartes muttered as well.

"Well, Lartes… What's the others' status?"

"They're about 5 minutes from there. They used two "Copy Cancellers" to bust mass-copied Apollon Flame and Sirius and the behemoths." He calmly reported.

"Excellent."

"No way!" Twilight cursed.

"Way."

"I'll bury you 5 feet under!"

"I'll blow you 5 feet above!" War Rock improvised a parody on the spot and began to laugh at it.

"Why not…" Vadous seemed to shrug.

"Hra~h! Nadare Daiko!"

"Aura."

"Shit! Gekiryuu Wave!"

He tried using the special abilities of both Yeti Blizzard and Brachio Wave but they did nothing save increase his bad mood: he then formed a whip of flames and swung it at Rock Man: he merely dodged and locked on him to attack with the Bubble Hook X and trap him in a bubble followed by Plasma Gun X to inflict double damage.

"Brat! I'll have you go through endless agony~!"

"I'm SO scared." Rock Man drily replied.

"Go for it." Burai merely told Rock Man.

"Sure thing. Eat these! Kogarashi X! Vulcan Seed X! Mad Vulcan X! The Noise percentage is over 200%! Finalize! Black Ace!"

"Impossible!"

Rock Man gained his Black Ace form and quickly began to bombard Twilight with his hi-speed Buster: he hovered from a spot to the other and locked on the guy to attack with an Elec Slash and scoring a Counter Hit: Rock Man stopped.

"The end. Black End… Galaxy!"

"No way!"

"Let's move out." Harp Note told Burai.

"Sure."

"Hra~h…! Hah!"

Rock Man built up energy and tossed the spheroid behind Twilight: the black hole opened and began to suck the guy in: Rock Man drew the blade and shot past Twilight while opening a cut across his chest and stopped behind the black hole, which collapsed and produced a spectacular explosion: Twilight roared and collapsed face-down on the ground while growling and releasing Crimson.

"I-impossible… The great me… The _daimaou_…!"

"Hullo~! We're late for the party~! We should've brought some "Sweet Candy" as aperitif!"

"Shidou…"

"Those "Anti" were cheap."

"Mwah, hah, hah. Very cheap!"

"Hmpf. So there you are: beaten again. How fitting."

Acid Ace, Blood Shadow, Sigma and Omega stepped there while climbing up a Real Wave spiraling staircase: Rock Man landed on the ground and resumed his normal form while Harp Note and Burai returned there as well.

"Good work. You fulfilled your role." A voice suddenly rang out.

"Now die."

"Gura~h!"

"What?"

Twilight growled and something inside of his torso began to glow and emit streams of crimson-colored light: Real Wave walls formed on the edge of the arena plus a cover: the staircase was deleted and its hole covered: Twilight howled.

"Gruwuwa~h!"

"Shields! All of you!" Omega commanded.

"Shit." Burai cursed.

Twilight suddenly exploded and formed an expanding sphere of energy which also sprouted a shockwave which shattered the shields and made them hit the Real Wave walls which seemed to be electrified: they collapsed face-down on the ground, smoking, as Crimson floated on the spot Twilight had been at.

"What in the…?" Vadous cursed over the radio.

"Are you alright?" Dr. Lartes called out.

"I've been through… worse!" Acid Ace groaned.

"What in the… What happened?" Omega cursed.

"Twilight isn't the mastermind?" Harp Note gasped.

"Don't tell me it was Hyde all along!" Blood Shadow hissed.

"The punk!" Sigma grumbled.

"Che…!"

"No. That can't be. I just checked over with WAXA: they used the IR function of the hidden cameras and spotted that Hyde and Shinobi are there and are the real ones." Dr. Lartes argued back.

"Kuroban? He got bored and came back for more?" Burai suggested as he stood up and rubbed his ribs.

"Could be, yeah." Acid Ace fumed.

"And Hikaru as well…!" Harp Note muttered.

"Go!"

"Bust them!"

Ra Mu suddenly dropped down from above, shattering the walls and the cover: it extended its hands and gripped Burai, Rock Man, Harp Note and Acid Ace to then begin to try to crush them while Erand Soldiers materialized and began to swarm the other three fighters: Omega cursed and leapt towards Ra Mu but a gigantic drill formed and hit him on the chest, making him hit the ground.

"Fuck! Burai! Can't you control those things?"

"Yeah…! Gimme a second… Override code…! Burai's command!"

The Mu Crest formed on the foreheads of the Erand Soldiers and they attacked Ra Mu instead: it loosed the hands to begin to violently smack them away: the two groups of two dropped to the ground and coughed as they recovered their breath.

"No! It ain't Kuroban. He hates Mu! He hates the Erand Soldiers: he'd never use Mu Technology!" Burai argued.

"Good point…! Guah! Fuck!" Acid Ace coughed.

"Watch out!" Omega called out.

Some meteors rained down along with two large lasers which swept the length and width of the arena: Andromeda's full form descended and hovered above them.

"Fuck. These ones aren't mere copies. They're real detailed reconstructions with 4000 HP each!" Omega cursed.

"Don't tell me Crimson Dragon comes next." Vadous cursed next.

"Gura~h!"

"Shit. I talk too much." He snarled.

Crimson Dragon suddenly emerged from the shaft and began to swipe its claws.

"7 of us against these behemoths! Vadous! Use the HQ's weapons and give us a hand!"

"Alright! Buy me 45 seconds!"

"45 seconds? We can do that. Let's go! Blood, Sigma! Come with me: Andromeda's our target!"

"Burai! You should know some weakness Ra Mu has, right?"

"Huh? Speaking of which… It's got the Berserk OOPart!"

"So whoever's behind this found it. It could be King, even!"

"Akatsuki – san! Let's kick that dragon's arse!"

"Sure thing, Misora!"

They split in groups: the 3 Musketeers jumped into the air and began to attack Andromeda while forming the jet-packs to fly across the sky: Harp Note and Acid Ace distracted and attacked the core of Crimson Dragon while Rock Man and Burai blew up the slab protecting Ra Mu's front and forced it to switch to its true form.

"True. The Berserk OOPart is there. Maybe someone found it: but you're still keeping the Dinosaur OOPart, right?" Rock Man asked.

"Of course. I don't take my eyes off it, either."

"Fine. Let's try to retrieve it at the least and make sure it won't be abused of." He suggested.

"That's OK for me. I'll be bait. You pawn the thing."

"Roger."

"Roger the Regor!" War Rock joked.

"Oh. Be quiet. Red Gaia Eraser!"

"Only 7 seconds!" Vadous warned.

"OK. We'll try to lure Crimson Dragon out of the shaft to jump down into the control room." Acid Ace announced.

"Bite my shades, ugly!" Harp Note taunted.

"Now!" Vadous warned.

The group disengaged and dropped down into the shaft: the three behemoths collided when trying to give chase and began to fight each other: eight laser beams followed by a large one fell down and pierced through the behemoths' bodies, opening wounds, and the larger one blew up Andromeda's head: the thing stopped levitating and plunged to the ground, getting deleted and forming a crater.

"One down!"

Ra Mu began to attack Crimson Dragon with the drill-arms but Crimson Dragon formed a large missile and shot it at the core, shattering it and making the Berserk OOPart fall down the shaft and into the control room, where Burai picked it: Ra Mu dropped on the edge of the arena and then fell down, opening another crater and causing a tremor, before being deleted: Crimson Dragon began to leak out Crimson and roared as the second head and neck got delete and parts of it began to break down and be deleted, too.

"The finishing blow! Eat this! Break Count Bomb!" Acid Ace exclaimed with a grin.

Acid Ace flung it upwards and it hit the underside of Crimson Dragon, thus deleting the thing: the group sighed in relief while some sarcastic clapping echoed from some speakers.

"Good struggle. Too bad it was in vain."

"Yeah. You guys' struggle was just a show."

"Who goes there?" Omega demanded.

"Your worst nightmare: the hairdresser!"

"How terrific." Omega drily muttered.

"Your worst nightmare: the animation director!"

"Oh yeah?" Acid Ace grumbled.

"Your worst nightmare: the animation mistakes!"

"We're SO frightened." Harp Note fumed.

"Your worst nightmare: the masterminds!"

"Hmpf… Whatever… Show your sulky hides." Burai grumbled.

"Indeed… Ya ready, partner?"

"I'm always ready… Let's surprise them! Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"


	12. Chapter 12: Show directors

**Chapter 12: Show directors**

10:49 PM (Japan Time), Saturday September the 29th…

"… Tut, tut. He who forgets his chair gets chaired."

"Tut, tut. She who forgets her something gets something."

"How rude!"

"Totally."

The group was still standing in the control room as the voices kept on taunting them: one sounded like a girl's and made a comment which annoyed Harp Note and Rock Man rolled his eyes.

"The Return of the Diehard Jerks!" The manly voice laughed.

"Wha~t?" Acid Ace grumbled.

"The Return of the Flattened Women!"

"How rude!" Harp Note got further annoyed.

"Those jokes are pointless." Omega grumbled.

"Totally, sir." Blood Shadow sighed.

"Huff. Not even I find them funny." Sigma sighed in defeat.

"Hmpf…" Burai folded his arms.

"Didn't ya realize? All of this… This was an exercise!"

"An exercise to gather juicy Battle Data…"

"And what's left is to…"

"…dispose of the trash generated during the exercise, that's all…" The girl's voice finished.

"Trash? Us? You're the trash!" Rock Man snapped back.

"Outdated trash!"

"I'd rather say more: outdated "p"…" The girl giggled.

"You pervert!"

"Why. I thought men were the perverts, not women."

"Whatever!"

"A man and a woman…? Two of them…? Wait a min…" Blood Shadow seemed to remember something.

"He who gets it hard is a pervert." The male voice taunted.

"How vulgar!" Rock Man protested.

"Totally!"

"She who gets it wet is a pervert." The girl's voice taunted.

"How repulsing!" Harp Note protested next.

"They're inside of the console's "Cybernetics" but they're locked from the inside and we can't get in from the Wave Roads to begin with." Omega grumbled.

"Tee, heh, heh. Too bad, feral – chan."

"Hmpf."

"Too bad, shadow of the blood!"

"Grjxh!" Blood Shadow grumbled.

"Too bad, Mr. Smith!"

"Wha~t?" Sigma grumbled.

"What a pity, Mr. Robocop!"

"Robocop! Me!" Acid Ace protested.

"Too bad, Mr. Loner!"

"Hmpf…" Burai was unimpressed.

"The lovely-lovely couple gets two VIP passes."

"To get to us…"

"JEEZ!" Both protested.

"Go smash them." Omega told them.

"Delighted!" Both fumed.

They performed a "Cyber-In" and got inside of the "Cybernetics": there was a straight road suspended over a swirling red mass of Crimson and which ended in a square-shaped building about 5 meters tall and 3 wide and had two wooden doors with iron work on them and two rings to knock: blood stains were scattered across its surface.

"What the heck is this? Some horror movie?" Rock Man cursed.

"From the looks of it…" Harp Note shrugged.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Horrorus Movius has descended."

"Pororon! Be quiet, cha."

"This is Omega. There's something going on outside. We're gonna go check it together. Boss is hacking his way into the console to remove the lock. Over." Omega radioed.

"OK."

"Alright. Don't lower the guard. It could be the Zenay III titans for all we know." Harp Note warned.

"It's them, alright. Dream Virus, Gospel, Proto, Duo, Nebula Grey, Greiga and Falzer… All of them at 4000 HP… But Boss will give us a hand with the laser guns of the HQ…" Omega grumbled.

"Yikes." Even War Rock seemed to take back his cockiness.

"See? Be glad we're not there."

"Y-yeah. I'll be quiet. Man." He sighed.

"Pororon! About time."

"Let's go and end this damned farce." Harp Note fumed.

"Same thing over here…"

They pushed open the doors, which creaked, and stepped into a pitch-black room: the doors shut behind them and a chandelier turned on the ceiling: it had purple-flame candles which provided an eerie illumination to the room which was made of a bricks.

"What in the…"

"By all the…"

The room was almost devoid of furniture save for a pair of metallic triangular horses with two vibrators on it: the gap between them was wider in the left one compared to the right one and they had the _kanji_ "otoko" (man) and "onna" (woman) on each one.

"What are THOSE?" Harp gasped.

"Torture devices." Harp Note cursed.

"By all the…" War Rock cursed.

"I only know someone who'd do this." Rock Man hissed.

"Bravo, Holmes. Took ya a while, ya know?"

"Tee, heh, heh. This is your worst nightmare: the living _Naraku_!"

"Kurayami." Rock Man hissed next.

"Kanaya." Harp Note growled.

Two characters suddenly showed up there in front of each "horse" and each of the two.

The one facing Rock Man looked like an imitation of his Black Ace form but with blackish shades and no wings.

The one facing Harp Note had a purplish skull instead of the heart and the shades were also black and thick while the bodysuit had changed to a blacker coloring.

"Yeah. Been a while, eh? Ever since Wizard City…"

"Are those two companions of cha having nightmares still? Tee, heh!"

"You lowlifes!" Rock Man growled.

"So you planned this!"

"Yeah! We escaped by inches from the explosion and decided to keep a low profile before staging for this… In fact… We moved the sea-fortress here, to Omicron, so as to avoid Shinobi from sneaking in."

"So Shinobi had been listening into you guys' plotting."

"Yeah. But the "Anti" plot began to be drawn once we moved here: so even if you'd interrogated the guy he'd known nothing but maybe he suspects our involvement."

"Che."

"Heh, heh, heh… The hatred and grudge… They're stirring up and they'll soon turn you into the Dark Side of the Force."

"What nonsense is that?"

"Ask Vadous! Tee, heh, heh!"

"Che! We'll beat you yet!"

"Oho. Oho. Scary, scary~… But this isn't the battle ring… Battle ring: deploy! Let's go!"

The room vanished and was a replaced by a soccer field the spectator seats of which were filled with all kinds of V3 Viruses including several species: both got into a fighting stance.

"We brought some souvenirs from our trip to the 21st century with Death Shadow, ya see."

"And we're gonna make good use of them, too." Kurayami sneered.

"Rare-Class Giga Battle Chip! Greiga!"

"Falzer!"

"What!"

"Yikes!"

Greiga and Falzer formed there: Greiga vomited fiery "breath" which hit Harp Note while Falzer formed a tornado attack which hit Rock Man next: both groaned got back to their feet.

"Mega Battle Chip! Double Beast!" Both announced.

Two figures having armor designs reminiscent of each "Cybeast" popped out next and each attack their opponent: the Falzer one shot several rounds from a gun while the Greiga one slashed twice.

"Bug Rise Sword!"

"Bug Death Thunder!"

Kanaya drew a purplish blade which glowed and she struck Harp Note with it, sending her flying and crashing against the floor: Kurayami formed a purplish thunderbolt which fell into Rock Man.

"These have bugs on them, too!"

"Maybe they'll make you panic?" Kurayami laughed.

"Ugruh! No kidding!" Harp Note cursed.

"Like that will spot me!" Rock Man hissed.

"Delta Ray Edge!"

"Cross Divide!"

A new enemy having red armor, black shades, a white mouth-guard and silver hair flowing from behind the helmet formed and drew a red energy triangle which he shot at Harp Note to make her hit a column close by: another enemy swung a built-in right forearm sword to form a cross-shaped attack: Rock Man hissed and stepped back.

"These pack a lot of power…! Recovery 300!"

"Recovery 300!"

"Yeah. Put up some struggle…"

"Before you plunge into the living _Naraku_…"

"Tee, heh, heh."

"Heh, heh, heh."

"Che! We'll capture you and you'll go through trial! I swear!"

"Yeah! Cha won't get away with your crimes!"

"Program Advance! Mega Cannon, Triple Slot In! Giga Cannon!"

"Program Advance! Hell's Burner, Triple Slot In! Wide Burner!"

"Impact Cannon!"

"Wide Wave X!"

"Puny!"

"Futile!"

Their counter-attacks were overpowered by the attacks shot by their enemies: Kurayami formed a gigantic blue weapon which shot a burst of energy at Rock Man and Kanaya formed a large weapon to shoot a torrent of flames at Harp Note.

"So? How about cha get rid of so much make-up? Flat – chan?"

"Mind cha own business!"

"So? How about you get rid of so many lovers? Lovely – chan?"

"Shut up!" Rock Man snapped.

"How about you submit to Queen Tia – sama~?"

"Like Hell!"

"How about you submit to ME?" Kurayami taunted.

"Never!"

"Too bad. Program Advance! Fire Punch 3, Triple Slot In! Flame Hook!"

"Program Advance! Wave Arm 3, Triple Slot In! Power Wave!"

"Devil."

Kurayami lifted his right fist and warped to hit Rock Man once and then do it once again: Kanaya hit the floor and two parallel shockwaves spread to then converge into one and hit Harp Note.

"This is Omega! Huff, huff. 3 down!" He reported.

"Shit. I forgot about the orbital weapons of the HQ." Kurayami grumbled aloud.

"You silly-head." Kanaya scolded.

"Huff." He fumed.

"Hmpf!"

"So! About to get divorced, cha two?" Harp Note taunted.

"Go see a lawyer." Rock Man added.

"T-these PESTS!" They snapped.

"Recovery 300!"

"Recovery 300!"

"Giga Chip! Giant Hook!"

"Giga Chip! Meteor Knuckle!"

"That fist design… They belong to the program named "Duo"…" Rock Man spotted.

"Whatever."

Two pairs of gigantic fists formed: the first attack had one swing down one row and the second fist swing up the other row which was when Rock Man was hit: the second type of attack had several copies of the fists rain down in a pattern around the field: Harp Note moved around but got hit once or twice.

"The Viruses there will have your Wizards as main dish!"

"And then we'll bring you to our mobile base… Warp away… And be trapped in the living _Naraku_… Forever!"

"Hah! That rubbish can't stand up to Warus Rockus – samus!"

"We have our own Folders installed, anyway." Harp muttered.

"Shit. I forgot they did that to the Wizards." Kurayami cursed.

"You fish-memory!"

"Huff. And I'm always to blame, huh?"

"Yeah! Cha are to blame!"

"Look on, Subaru – kun… That's what a divorce is."

"I can see that, Misora – chan."

"Cha stay quiet!"

"Grjx! Program Advance! Corn Shot 3, Triple Slot In! Corn Party!"

"Program Advance! Iron Shell 3, Triple Slot In! Parallel Shell!"

Kurayami formed a corn-shaped Virus which began to shoot out popcorn which exploded in a row: Rock Man shielded from the blasts while Kanaya formed two armadillo-like Viruses which shot forward: Harp Note dodged one but one hit her once and a second time when rolling back at the source: both fighters looked like they could go for more.

"5 down…! Only those two big things left…!" Omega sighed.

"We're managing neatly over here, too. These "Program Advances" are strong but we can bear with those. And since we've got the Folder Back we can reuse the Recovery Battle Chips." Rock Man reported.

"They're about to get divorced, anyway." Harp Note giggled.

"Yeah… I can see that…" He seemed to get amused, for once.

"Che. The feral guy's laughing at us too!" Kurayami grumbled.

"The robot cha made was LAME!" She snapped at him.

"Well! It wasn't easy!"

"Whatever! Let's beat these two, get 'em, and flee!"

"Roger!"

"We won't make it easy for you." Rock Man warned.

"We'll fight to the end!"

"Of Time Eternal?" Kurayami mocked.

"Of the Eternal _Naraku_?" Kanaya mocked next.

"Che." War Rock grumbled.

"Pororon! How annoying."

"Program Advance! Elec Pulse 3, Triple Slot In! Destroy Pulse!"

"Program Advance! Count Bomb, Triple Slot In! Giga Count Bomb!"

"Super Barrier!"

"Aura!"

"Shit."

"Fuck."

Their new PAs failed because the Super Barrier and the Aura protected them from the damage.

"Time to counter! Sword Fighter X!"

"Break Saber X!"

"Che! Aura!"

"Super Barrier!"

"Crap."

"We got confident."

Rock Man attacked Kurayami but his attacks didn't manage to pierce the Aura while Harp Note's single hit didn't overload the capacity of the Super Barrier either.

"So?" They taunted.

"Crap."

"Starting to foresee your doom? Tee, heh, heh, heh."

"The horse is just the introduction. There's no limit to S&M play and I'll set up an orgy with your lovers, too!" Kurayami taunted.

"Don't dare to lay your dirty hands on my friends!"

"Tee, heh, heh. You'll experience absolute agony, flat – chan." Kanaya taunted Harp Note.

"Stop with that nickname! Sulky!"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sulky. They called me Sulky Anti Sulky."

"Che."

"Only Falzer left…!" Omega reported.

"Take a break, Omega – san: battling all of those must've been extremely demanding."

"Yeah… Sure thing…! Don't forget to use the trump card to settle the deal, anyway…" He reminded him.

"Acknowledged."

"Trump card? Finalize? Hah! We've set up Noise jammers."

"I don't care. I don't need Noise to win."

"His trump card will smash cha make-up!" Harp Note taunted.

"Oh my. And how about I smash the vase of flowers instead?"

"V-vase of flowers…? Cha pervert!" She realized what she meant.

"Oh my. Never tried it out, have you?" She whispered back.

"None of cha sulky business!"

"Maybe of the _paparazzi_?" Kanaya laughed.

"This gal…!" She got a twitch over the right eye.

"That's it… Come at me! And become my slave! Mine and Queen Tia's, yeah…" She giggled.

"Jack The Ripper didn't propose to you, Hoshikawa~?"

"What in the… Stop meddling with my friends!" Rock Man grumbled.

"The mirror shattered when ya looked into it!" War Rock joked.

"Wha~t?"

"Hah! Good one, Rock." Rock Man grinned.

"Get an anti-ugliness mirror with insurance!"

"This alien!"

"Did Utagai fall down the stairs?"

"Don't involve Utagai – san!"

"Since the guy's the comic relief character of the district…"

"Huff, huff… Done… All down…" Omega panted.

"Hmpf… Foolish mortals…" A voice rang out.

"Shit. Nebula Grey's core program, come to taunt us."

"Heck." Kurayami hissed.

"What now?" Kanaya cursed.

"You lowlifes are but pawns which dance to the tune of my flute!" The voice proclaimed.

"Wha~t?" Both villains growled.

"My influence overcomes Time-Space!"

"And that means that you're going to stir up "evil" somewhere else, doesn't it?" Rock Man grumbled.

"As if we didn't have enough problems!" Harp Note fumed.

"Farewell!"

"Che! They ran away, the mice." Omega grumbled.

"Whatever. Let's settle this. And even if Hyde and the punk come up with something we can beat them." Rock Man grumbled.

"Yeah. Let's go for it."

"You're POWERLESS!" Kurayami taunted.

"Try making those bigger, my dear."

"JEEZ!"

"That woman…!" War Rock grumbled.

"I know. They're a pervert." Rock Man calmly muttered.

"Pororon! What stubborn folk!" Harp muttered.

"Alright! Let's go for it! Mega Card! Tabuu X!"

"Tabuu? The Nomad Emissary!" Kurayami gasped.

"What in the…?" Kanaya cursed.

"Mwah, hah, hah… Yer doom's come, ugly duo!"

Some data began to gather on the field and gave way to a Wizard which was unlike any seen before.

The Wizard had a humanoid shape and seemed to be around two meters tall.

Black armor made of an unknown material covered the whole of his body thus protecting him.

The helmet around his head lacked nose or mouth yet it had two cavities for the eyes which were plain red and lacking iris: but they seemed to be a decoration more than his real eyes, too.

His shoulders were plain and didn't have a spheroid form unlike most Wizards: he had elbows and the armor over the hands included two small dome-shaped objects with the Alphabet "T" character colored in rainbow colors drawn upon them.

The armor extended across his legs, being thicker around the knees and ended in ellipsoid segments protecting his feet: rainbow-colored lines travelled down their length.

The main body was absent of decoration save for a pattern drawing the same Alphabet "T" letter in the middle of the chest the colors of which were constantly shifting and mixing.

Lastly, four large and irregularly-shaped wings formed behind him: its colors were also constantly shifting, too.

"Go, Tabuu! Apocalypse Now!"

"What!"

"Three waves of energy! 250 HP of damage per wave! Total damage… 750 HP!"

"750? That's impossible!" Kurayami cursed.

"No way!"

"Don't underestimate Tabuu! Go~!"

The Wizard named "Tabuu" beat his wings and began to build up energy around his frame while closing his body: he suddenly chuckled and spread his arms and legs wide as a large ring of energy expanded around him and hit both opponents: the attack sent them flying and crashing against the goal's net: another two rings expanded from Tabuu's body and hit them before he made a reverence and vanished from the Field.

"Grah…! My strength…! I feel heavy…!"

"Damn it… That thing had side-effects… Paralysis…!"

"That's as far as it goes."

Omega and the others warped inside of the field: Acid Ace interacted with a screen and formed two Real Wave cages in which he trapped both opponents: the Viruses quickly fled from the spectators' seats as if fearing that they would be slaughtered there and now: Rock Man and Harp Note sighed in relief.

"Kurayami! Kanaya! As a Satella Police "Raid Troop" member… I arrest you two!" He announced.

"Don't screw me!" Kanaya cursed.

"It won't be long before we have our revenge~!" Kurayami threatened.

"I'm SO scared. Go nap."

The cages glowed and their bodies seemed to turn into stone: the group sighed in relief and warped out into the real world.

"We'll bring them to the HQ and lock them in the hi-security server while keeping a watch. Storm and Miles should do well. The cages drain all but 1 HP, anyway, and they can't recover so quickly." Omega told the group with a sigh of relief.

"And with this… Omicron's Second Battle has ended." Rock Man muttered with a sigh of relief.

"You did it, Subaru – kun!" Tsukasa congratulated.

"I knew you could, Misora – chan!" Kiboyama added.

"Thanks, Gino – kun."

"Thank you, Tsukasa – kun.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Time for Warus Rokcus – samus' show of pranks and curses and Chinese scrolls!" War Rock laughed.

"Jeez. Don't bring up Dragon Hell, the Choina cook, next. He's in another world altogether and his banners ARE weird. And I feel some _déjà vu_ by bringing this up." Omega grumbled.

"B-B-Bertie~! Save _iinchou_ from the fats and calories!"

"You go save Gonta from those." Rock Man sighed.

"I need some "Sweet Candy" to shake of the stress!"

"Shidou…"

The group sighed in relief and smiled…


	13. Chapter 13: One less evil

**Chapter 13: One less evil**

11:11 AM (Japan Time), Sunday September the 30th…

"… Did Rock Man – sama get hurt too much, Subaru – kun?"

"Huff. Those two did pack some power."

"Mwah, hah, hah! But he taught them a lesson: fat and calories are bad, _iinchou_!"

"Speaking of which! Fatman! Where's the guy?"

"Yikes! Luna – chan, what about the next week's Student Council…?"

"No good! I need to prepare the planning!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! Saved by the rabbit, B-B-B-B-Bertie~?"

"Stop with that nickname."

Luna had been talking with Subaru and War Rock began to joke so Luna got annoyed when thinking about Gonta: Mode improvised some reminder and she rushed away while War Rock laughed.

"B-B-B-B-Bertie~! Spider Man V 2206-09 has come~!" A voice rang out with obvious amusement.

"Omega – san… Now that the crisis is over he's gotten back to his "joker" self…" Subaru sighed.

"Mwah, hah, hah!"

Omega suddenly dropped into the spot (the square where the Big Wave Store was at) while extending his arms and grinning: Subaru slapped his face in defeat and War Rock laughed.

"Ta-dan! A _souvenir_ from Omicron!"

He formed a Real Wave mask of the Frankenstein Monster and Subaru groaned while War Rock laughed.

"It fits with your true self, doesn't it, B-B-B-B-Bertie~? Ya came to life with electricity, after all!"

"JEEZ!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! True, true! I zapped this guy's brains!" War Rock laughed and began to flip.

"Oh come on!"

"O-ME-GA!" Vadous roared over his radio.

"Yo~! _Shachou_~! Did Steve Dixie come say hi and bye~?"

"You messed with the storage room's passwords AGAIN!"

"Yeah! Flying shirts with ghostly faces!"

"That password is ridiculous!"

"It's brilliant and unbeatable! It'll get patented as some monster in some RPG and I'll demand 5% of the total profits!" He laughed.

"GTHDKGHK!" Vadous howled something undecipherable.

"Omicronese?"

"NO!"

"Zenayish?"

"NO!"

"Epsilonech?"

"NO!"

"FMian?"

"NO!"

"Mwah, hah, hah. AMian!" War Rock laughed.

"Please…" Subaru groaned.

"Mr. Vadous, sir! My Physics text-book's missing, sir!" Kiboyama complained in the background.

"Mr. Vadous, sir! My Biology text-book's missing, sir!"

"Beg to me and I might give 'em back… I let Solo borrow 'em!"

"I doubt Solo finding any interest in them."

"Yeah. Correct. Here you have them."

Solo walked into the square and handed Subaru both text-books while glaring at Omega: Laplace was silent and Solo fumed before he headed out of the town.

"So! B-B-B-B-Bertie~! Are you going to take Hibiki's place and have a thrill with Madonna?"

"That's not something to joke about, sir!" Tsukasa growled.

"At all!" Kiboyama added.

"What's this ruckus?"

"Buruo~! There we go again."

Gonta came in, apparently drawn by the scandal, and Ox folded his arms while grumbling.

"Well, well, well. Welcome to the party, my Fatman."

"Not again!" He groaned.

"Che."

"Mwah, hah, hah. You burnt this guy's brains!" War Rock laughed at Ox while signaling Gonta.

"Wha~t?"

"Dear me! What's this ruckus?"

"Probabilities of…"

"I can guess the rest. 200%."

Kizamaro ran in, too, while Pedia began to calculate and Kizamaro guessed the rest while rolling his eyes.

"Mwah, hah, hah. The Reject Eight Dwarf!"

"EXCUSE ME~?" He complained.

"Che." Jack grumbled as he came in, too.

"The club's gathered! Too bad _iinchou_ couldn't make it. Anyway… Let's go hunt flying donuts stained with vile and cruel truths!"

"HUH?" Gonta looked perplexed.

"Too much for your brain to process, Fatman – sama~?"

"This JERK!" He grumbled.

"Subaru – ku~n! Cha won't escape my debriefing so easily~!" Luna rushed into the square.

"Strategy: failure." Mode whispered to Subaru with obvious defeatism.

"Crap."

"Rock Man – sama mustn't get hurt!"

"It isn't easy not to get hurt when they're launching attacks worth hundreds of HP points without breaks!" Subaru argued.

"Rock Man – sama dodges them all!"

"It's not as easy as it seems! _Iinchou_!"

"It should be a piece of a cake for Rock Man – sama!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Bertie~… The Number One Fan wants to propose to ya~…"

"How rude!" Luna snapped at Omega.

"O-ME-GA! Come back here, you moron!"

"Why does this city go mad the whole time?" Subaru sighed.

"You bull!"

"You clawed!"

"Someone save us."

"Mwah, hah, hah!"

12:12 PM (Japan Time)…

"… My sword!"

"My helmet!"

"Not again!"

"O-ME-GA~!"

"Catch me, _shachou_~!"

"Grah! I can't focus! Why couldn't they make the rooms be sound-proof?"

"Shit! That rascal!"

Tsukasa and Kiboyama complained aloud in their rooms as they heard a scandal mounting up outside on the corridor.

"Crawling pants with stripped tigers!"

"Stop changing the storage rooms' passwords!" Dr. Lartes complained next.

"And here I thought this place would be quiet." Tsukasa grumbled aloud as he tried to ignore the scandal.

"And here I thought I'd be calm here. I prefer the weird Chinese proverbs to that to begin with." Kiboyama complained.

"No more tolerance! I'm so gonna go and lock you in the capsule for a whole month! I'm fed up with this! And if you, Sigma, try something funny then you're next!" Vadous roared.

"Yikes!"

"Huff." Blood Shadow sighed.

"Where's the pest!"

"In your imagination and celestial world, _shachou_~!"

"The Central Hub!"

"Huff. Let this farce end already!" Kiboyama muttered.

"I need to finish the homework! And prepare the exams! They begin in two weeks' time!" Tsukasa hissed.

He drew his Hunter-VG along with a pair of headphones and turned them on to begin listening to music and sighing as he blocked out the sounds from the outside: he wrote a message which he sent to Kiboyama so he did the same.

"At last!"

"Finally!"

In the meanwhile, though, Blood Shadow and Sigma were walking across a catwalk located in a huge room.

This room was easily over several tens of meters tall and huge: it was a gigantic cylinder-shaped room which had several catwalks and stairs crossing across it from different heights and directions plus large fans set on the walls.

The ground was a mere metallic grid which seemingly allowed a large bulk below it to expel heat: most of the room was unlit but the catwalks had fluorescent paint on the ground and handrails to mark them: the ceiling had two small metallic grids as well shaped like opposing halves of a hexagon.

"Bloody Shadowy~! Join the triangle form a square~!" Omega's voice echoed from somewhere.

"I don't have "it" and you know it, sir. That joke's running too old, anyway." Blood Shadow grumbled.

"Huff."

"There you are!" Vadous grumbled.

"_Shachou_~! Hyde will invent Hyde And His Punk For Austrian Theaters Only~! Let's go see the _premiere_ in Vienna~!"

"Shaddup! Capsule time! You're not running away this time!"

"Ops! End of the season! See ya next season! Heh, heh, heh!"

13:23 PM (Japan Time)…

"… There was a demoniac symbol in the vending machine~!"

"Demoniac symbol? I feel skeptical, Utagai – kun."

"With a good reason. It was the "forbidden" symbol and it meant that it's out of order. You know: parking forbidden, cars forbidden…"

"Huff. Utagai – san…! Anyway! Acid. What's the status?"

"The front is stable for the time being. Yet…"

"If it is bad news then… Wait until I come out of the room and you'll tell me personally."

Utagai ran into the Command Room while looking pale: Amachi sighed and looked skeptical and Cygnus explained: Shidou sighed and Acid began to say something but he stopped him and they headed outside of the room: Dr. Yoiri sighed.

"That child…"

"I know. Let's hope we can at least prevent the worst-case _scenario_." The Chief sighed.

"Hey! Who swapped my mango ice-cream for a vanilla ice-cream?"

"My chocolate ice-cream got swapped for a strawberry one!"

"Mwah, hah, hah. Warus Rockus – samus cursed of the Icus Creamus!"

"That's War Rock?" Daigo grumbled.

"Yo! Daigo! Go beat the Big Five!"

"Stop making that pun on my name, Rock!" He complained.

"There goes a manly parent!"

"I don't get the point! If there's ANY!"

"NYA will beat ANY in 6.66 seconds! Omegus – donus said it!"

"Don't involve Omega next." Shidou cursed.

"Yo! Akatsuki! Go berserk and paint Subari~ with pink paint!"

"Like I'd do that." He fumed.

"I fail to see the point." Acid drily protested.

"There's none!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! I stole Queen Tia's stuff and blamed Omega for that so we'll see how she complains!"

"She won't. She'll buy it again." Shidou fumed.

"I dumped in Area M!"

"No way!" Shidou gasped.

His Hunter-VG rang and Misora's annoyed face popped out.

"Akatsuki – san, sir! It's War Rock! He dumped some stuff in my room which has a label with Queen Tia – _sensei_'s name!"

"By all the… Burn it up! I don't care how! Just burn it up!"

"Delighted, sir!"

"Pororon! That berserk lion wannabe…"

"Tell that to Leo Kingdom, Harp!" War Rock laughed.

"Don't joke with the AM Sages next." Daigo complained.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! The AMus Sagus!"

"Burai will beat your Black Hole Server record."

"Wha~t? The punk! I'm so gonna beat the guy!"

War Rock warped out and everyone sighed in relief: Shidou then used the elevator and headed for another floor where he exited into a deserted corridor.

"Be careful, Shidou. Queen Tia has been several times already in that place: the problem is that it's totally legal. So we can't say she's been doing anything illegal."

"Heck."

"But I managed to dispatch a request for an order commanding Queen Tia to not come closer to Hibiki than 800 meters."

"Phew. Good thinking, Acid."

"It'll be ready this next week."

"Good. The sooner, the better… I really don't want anything to happen to Misora… She's got her life to live! And Queen Tia can't go and traumatize out of some caprice! Really!" He fumed.

"I do not understand the full implications but if you say this would affect Hibiki's mindset and life then it would amount to a crime."

"Oh yeah! A crime! It's a crime alright! No loopholes will avoid her from getting prison for that crime! Speaking of prison: did those two get interned already?"

"Indeed. Their Denpa – Henkan forms have been de-installed and so have all abilities. They're reduced to normal Wizards' power level and the security is relentless." Acid confirmed.

"Good. They ain't getting outta that place. The charges were clear: attempted kidnapping, attempted torture, attempted rape, attempted mass destruction, illegal construction of mass-destruction programs, illegal copying of Wizard data… The list is large." He began to list before shrugging.

"One evil less."

"Yeah. But we can't lower the guard. Hyde can come up with dangerous stuff like in the summer when he tried to have that Clock Genius guy destroy the Main Computer from the inside but luckily Subaru and Misora halted them along with the Musketeers."

They failed to spot Shinobi looking on from an air duct and chuckling under his breath.

_Yeah… Ya'd be better off not underestimating Hyde – sama… Heh, heh!_

14:44 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hyde – sama."

"So?"

"They're starting to focus on us."

"No wonder."

"And they're on the edge: they could react to any hints."

"Heh. Hence why I picked this place to meet…"

"Indeed."

"The sea-fortress thing… It's still in Omicron?"

"Correct."

"Good. Find me the coordinates of Zenay III and of Epsilon."

"Oh?"

Shinobi came to report to Hyde in the overgrown garden of rather beaten down manor having a nearby river as well: Hyde was reading _Hamlet_ while sitting under a tree's shade and looked up while having a smug smile on his face and looking up to something: Phantom, hovering close by, looked surprised.

"We'll go scavenging. Maybe we can find something there useful to us or which we can sell to another party to gain some neat cash: that could help prepare some project." Hyde exposed.

"I understand."

"Don't get cocky, Hyde." Phantom warned.

"Oh no. I'll get dramatic. Hah, hah, hah!"

"Huff. Cha know what's coming, huh?"

"Well…" Shinobi trailed off.

"_Saiigaii…_" Assassin muttered.

"A disaster, ya mean to say? Guess that." Phantom sighed.

"_Damaree_!"

"You can't tell me to shut up because you Assassins' Clan was forbidden in Mu and given my duties in the Mu Army then I have further authority than you, like it or not."

"Che!"

Assassin looked elsewhere, seemingly annoyed, and Shinobi rolled his eyes while Hyde resumed reading.

"Alright, Assassin… Let's not start another war! Go suck cattle blood."

"_Yagii noo chii_!"

"Yeah, goat blood… Go!"

"_Haa, haa, haa_!"

"Yeah, laugh all you want but go already!"

Assassin flew off and Shinobi sighed: he headed inside of the decaying mansion and sat on the ground of an empty room: he got into a _yoga_ pose and began to seemingly meditate.

"Ah! So it was a complot, as the complot dictated!" Hyde laughed at his poorly improvised rhyme.

"Hyde… That doesn't make sense."

"What would a disgraced actor know?" Hyde merely replied while switching to the next page.

"Not again… I never was an actor to begin with!"

"You are and will be! There's no escaping an actor's fate!"

"If there's such a thing to begin with." He sighed.

"Ah! So it was the evil usurper King: come from barbaric northern lands!"

"Barbaric northern lands…? I give up. Go your half-way, Hyde… Jeez."

15:05 PM (Japan Time)…

"… By the way, Misora… Where did you go off in such a rush?"

"I'm sorry, Urakata – san. I forgot something on my way here and reminded I had to go fetch it before it was picked off."

"Pororon!"

"Ah! No problem, no problem. Huh? You there! ID yourself!"

"Why should I?"

"'Cause I'm your superior, you newbie!"

"Did the angel bite the sandal?"

"What? Hah, hah! Is that a joke?"

"Gotcha, ugly."

"W-wha~t?"

Urakata had encountered Misora once she'd come out from the room and they began to chat when Urakata spotted a suspicious character with the newbie uniform apparently trying to sneak into her room: Urakata walked towards him and cornered him while Misora made a question: the newbie laughed and Misora grinned.

"Cha don't know the weekly password. Who sent you? Or are you some paparazzi who came to set up a hidden camera and get some "exclusives" to sell them for some millions to some magazine? Hmmm?" Misora deduced.

"My anger's mounting and about to EXPLODE!" Urakata roared.

"Uwa~h!"

The fake newbie ran away like he was gonna be slaughtered alive: Suzuka and Ice walked over there, unsurprised.

"Another paparazzi?" Suzuka guessed.

"Jeez. How annoying." Ice complained.

"Urakata – san: the security Wizard is bugged!" A veteran reported.

"I knew it. So that's why their IDs weren't double-checked with the database!" Urakata growled.

"I see! We can place a normal Wizard and ask the weekly password: if they fail after 3 attempts they assume the form of a Noised Wizard and tell them to flee or they'll be cursed until the end of Time Eternal!" Misora suggested.

"Good idea! A Noised Wizard from close up is terrific enough. We can work it out with a Real Wave." Ice grinned.

"Bravo!" Suzuka exclaimed.

"Pororon! It's the Anti Paparazzi Project!" Harp giggled.

"Good!" Urakata looked satisfied with the idea.

Misora's Hunter-VG rang and Solo showed up on-screen.

"Solo. Did something happen?"

"Hoshikawa's Wizard had stolen your guitar and dropped it on the Nanska Temple ruins… I retrieved it… I'm coming to bring it back."

"Ah. Alright. If you see the guy… Then give him a beating from me."

"Sure thing. I'm fed up with the guy's antiques, anyway."

"Ya… Ru…"

"No. Go play arcades." Solo snapped at Laplace.

"Ra… Yu…"

"Huff. Go – play – arcades!" He insisted.

"Yu…"

"At last." He fumed.

"The city's madness extends to even across the world. Lovely."

"Pororon! What madness." Harp sighed.

19:29 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Mwah, hah, hah! Yo!"

"Oh my. War Rock. What's up?"

"Subari~ collects triangles!"

"And what's the problem with that?"

"Ask Big Five! Mwah, hah, hah."

"Oh please. You know Daigo – san dislikes that joke."

"Mwah, hah, hah."

War Rock began to joke with Akane as she watched the TV: Akane frowned and then sighed.

"War Rock! Stop messing around!" Subaru protested from the bedroom.

"Start around messing!" He made up a lame pun.

"Huff! Jeez! And stop picking off people's stuff like those thieves in Shiisaa Island!"

"Maybe they're my own evil and nefarious cousins!"

"Of course not! Denpa Bodies don't have cousins!"

"Mwah, hah, hah. I'll invent 'em!"

"Oh please. Someone put a halt to this guy!"

"Yo! I'm home. Huff. War Rock. Messing around again?"

"Welcome back, dear… As you can see…"

"Yo! Big Five! Subari~ is very popular! He founded a triangle!"

"Founded a triangle? I dunno what you mean. If it's about some videogame or something like that then I don't see what the problem is: go defeat V3 Viruses alone."

"That a challenge~? Mwah, hah, hah! Go full speed and full madness!"

Subaru climbed down the stairs and got to the living room: Daigo hugged him and Subaru smiled.

"Welcome back, dad."

"Well, well! Today I cook!"

"Oh my. How nostalgic." Akane giggled.

"Guess it's gonna be pretty nostalgic, yeah!"

Daigo headed for the ground floor bedroom while Subaru climbed back into his and gasped when he found Harp Note sitting on his chair.

"_Hi, darling_!"

"Misora – chan… I thought we'd agreed on quitting that?" He sighed.

"Tee, heh, heh. I just wanted to drop by in a sneaky manner. You know I need to do this or use my "Veronica" disguise. It's a trouble having so many fans, really." She sighed.

"Pororon! At least Brutus ain't here." Harp muttered.

"So, Subaru – kun… I guess we'll soon have one new adventure but in the meanwhile I'll leak out that I'm writing a new single 'bout this one."

"Of course. If it's Misora – chan…"

She reverted out of the "Denpa – Henkan" and picked Subaru's right hand: he blushed and Misora grinned.

"Tee, heh, heh. Anyway… Let's look forward to new adventures.

"But let's hope they give me a break, too… I need to pass the exams!"

"Pororon! The Raid Troop's on the move! Troop a Raid!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! Not bad, Harp! Non Raid Non Troop!"

War Rock showed up and laughed at his lame motto: the three of them shrugged and grinned nevertheless as they looked out at the skies…

**THE END**


End file.
